A Far Cry From Home, Continuation of BtVS
by kitty-kat12
Summary: Set after the apocalypse. Almost a year after Buffy gave up her role as slayer, she is forced to confront her choice when she sees Spike again. Trouble looms over their already tragic relationship when Dawn is lost & changes happen faster than expected.
1. Saying Goodbye

DISCLAIMER: BUFFY OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS IN BTVS DO NOT BELONG TO ME. DON'T SUE.  
  
A/N: THIS STORY IS INSPIRED BY THE SPOILERS THAT I READ FOR THE FINALE. IT WILL BE A BUFFY-ANGEL CROSSOVER. I MADE SOME CHANGES IN THE STORY AFTER WATCHING THE FINALE.  
  
THE ORIGINAL PAIRS WILL BE BUFFY/SPIKE, ANGEL/CORDELIA, AND A FEW SURPRISES. HOPE YOU LIKE IT. PLEASE REVIEW.  
  
ENJOY.  
  
~*~  
  
Buffy stood in front of the newly made graves, the slayer's scythe gripped around her fingers while propped on the ground.  
  
Dawn's arm went around her waist, a small sob escaping her sister's lips. Immediately, Buffy's free hand went to Dawn's shoulders pulling her closer.  
  
Xander went and stood on the girls' right, just in front of the grave of the woman he loved and lost-repeatedly.  
  
He cast a broken look at Buffy before turning away to read the inscription on Anya's tombstone.  
  
Anya. Forever In Our Hearts. Died June 2003.  
  
Dawn caught his hand and held it.  
  
Xander drew a heavy breath, letting his tears fall.  
  
Buffy continued to look at the graves in front of her, her chest rising and falling from trying to suppress her sobs.  
  
She felt a small squeeze on her shoulder and she looked up and saw Faith who tried to say something but failed. The other slayer only sighed and leaned forward in front of the graves and placed flowers on them.  
  
Buffy whimpered as she scanned the tombstone beside Anya's.  
  
It read: Spike. Great Soldier. Honored Friend. Died June 2003.  
  
Around Spike and Anya's graves were the potentials that they lost.  
  
On the farthest end of the grieving line were Willow and Giles. Behind them were the last of the potentials.  
  
"It's over." Faith whispered after a long moment of painful silence. Everyone lifted their heads to look at her.  
  
Buffy nodded; a determined look on her face as she pulled away from Dawn who was still sobbing.  
  
The apocalypse was stopped and in the end they won. Now they came to bury their dead.  
  
"I need to ask you something." She said as she turned to the rogue slayer.  
  
Faith nodded; a curious look on her face.  
  
Buffy went on. "I know that we've had our differences, that we've tried to kill each more than we'd like to admit but the truth is, we would never have made it this far had you not helped us. Helped me."  
  
"B, what are you getting at here?" Faith asked suspiciously.  
  
"Faith let me finish." Buffy whispered. Faith nodded. "When you said that we could never get along because we weren't meant to exist together, I guess you were right. Now I need to go on. To another life. So here."  
  
She handed the scythe to Faith while the remaining potentials gasped with awe and began to murmur.  
  
"Buffy-"  
  
"I know that this is asking a lot of you so if you don't want this then say so before I hand this over." She said still gripping the scythe.  
  
Faith smiled as her eyes grew misty. "I'd be honored." She said as she received the scythe from the blonde slayer.  
  
"Thank you." Buffy whispered, feeling as if the weight of the world was finally off her shoulders.  
  
"You don't have to give up being a slayer, B. We can try to work together." Faith stated as she looked at the scythe in her hand.  
  
"I know but I want to. I need it. And I deserve it. Dawn too." She replied as she took a quick glance at her sister.  
  
"It's an honor." Faith smiled.  
  
Buffy nodded feeling a great sense of gratitude and admiration for the other slayer. It was true. The rogue had earned her place.  
  
She turned to face Giles who was watching with awe and shock.  
  
"I know that it's my duty and I'm supposed to continue until I die. But the world's safe again and Faith can take care of the hellmouth while I'm gone." She said to her watcher.  
  
"You're leaving?" Dawn asked fearfully.  
  
"No, Dawnie. We're leaving." Buffy corrected. "I know that this must be a shock to all of you." She then turned to the rest of the group. "But I've seen you fight and I've seen you try the best you can. Faith's the leader now, so follow her."  
  
Buffy smiled at them, sad to leave them but at the same time grateful. "I'm grateful for everything you've done, for your courage and patience and for risking your life and your future. Please don't think that I'm abandoning you. Although I won't be part of this anymore, I will come if you need help. You can always turn to me."  
  
The potentials nodded as they murmured in response to Buffy's speech.  
  
"We owe you." One of the potentials stepped up.  
  
"We're even." Buffy replied before taking Dawn's hand and leading her back into the yellow bus that waited by the side of the road.  
  
************************************************************************  
  
They traveled to L.A. after that, using the bus as a home and transportation. Giles drove for a few hours, and then Buffy and Faith took their turns. Everyone else slept most of the way, others staring out the small bus window in silence.  
  
************************************************************************  
  
~Los Angeles~  
  
"I'll miss you." Willow sniffled as she hugged her best friend tightly.  
  
"Take care of yourself, Will." Buffy whispered as they said their good byes in front of the car that was parked in front of the Hyperion. They had to Los Angeles, to seek out Angel who Buffy knew could help them most.  
  
And of course he did.  
  
Buffy and Dawn were done packing and now they said their good byes.  
  
"Take care of each other." Willow said as she turned to give Dawn a hug.  
  
Dawn nodded silently.  
  
Giles took his turn to say goodbye, removing his glasses and clearing his throat. "Buffy-" He began but Buffy cut him off by suddenly embracing him.  
  
"Promise me we won't lose touch, Giles." She sniffled as she tightly hugged the man who had been like a father to her for so long.  
  
"I promise. I'll check up on you all the time." He said and Buffy pulled away from him. Dawn followed suit and hugged him.  
  
"I'll really, really miss you, Giles." She said in her little girl voice.  
  
"I'll miss you too, Dawn." He said as he hugged her.  
  
Xander followed; a small regretful smile on his face. "It won't be the same without you and Dawn, Buff." He said, shuffling his feet a little.  
  
"We'll make do. It's the best we can do to move on." Buffy replied bravely.  
  
Xander nodded. "I'm sorry about Spike. He was a good man."  
  
"I know." She whispered, her voice tightening a little. She didn't want to cry. "We'll miss Anya too. She was brave."  
  
"Yeah." Xander sniffled.  
  
Buffy stepped back put her arm around Dawn and thanked them again. They nodded, saying their good byes, looking as if they had lost another one of their members again.  
  
"We'll see you soon, ok, B?" It wasn't a question but more a requested promise from Buffy.  
  
"Soon." Buffy replied.  
  
"Cleveland is probably infested with demons when the gang and I get there. We might need your help one of these days." Faith declared with a soft chuckle.  
  
"I'll be there if you really need my help." Buffy said softly as she walked around the car that Angel had given her and got into the driver's seat. "But I don't think you will."  
  
Dawn waved frantically from her window, tears streaming down her cheeks as they slowly drove away.  
  
"Thanks, B." Faith whispered.  
  
Cleveland, here I come, Faith thought as she walked back into the Hyperion.  
  
The slayer had passed on the torch. Or scythe to be exact.  
  
************************************************************************  
  
Angel stood in front of his enormous window, overlooking Los Angeles. The door pushed open and Lilah walked in, a folder in one hand.  
  
"Hey boss." She said in cheerfully. "How was your little trip to Sunnydale?"  
  
Angel snorted, without as much as casting a glance at her direction. "You already know Lilah." He said.  
  
"Congratulations on a job well done. Sunnydale is now a safe zone. Well, actually a big giant hole." She replied.  
  
"I didn't do anything great."  
  
"How are Buffy and the gang?" Lilah continued.  
  
"Buffy and Dawn are in Florida. Giles went home and everyone else is in Cleveland to guard the other hell mouth." Angel replied grimly.  
  
"The job is never done." Lilah muttered with a shrug as she walked up to him. "I thought you'd like to know of a recent activity here in L.A." She handed him the folder.  
  
Angel flipped it opened and frowned. "When was this?" He asked.  
  
"Just got in, boss. He's in the waiting area." She said.  
  
Angel raised an eyebrow. "You let him in?"  
  
"A friend of yours is a friend of Wolfram and Hart." She quipped before walking out of the office.  
  
Angel sighed, shaking his head at the revelation. Lilah returned a few seconds later with Spike.  
  
Spike looked disoriented as he cast Lilah a disapproving look. "Gone big time?" He asked.  
  
"You're alive." Angel stated as he walked towards Spike. The last thing he heard about Spike was at when he sacrificed himself for the world and after that there was nothing else.  
  
"Yeah, well, just lucky I guess." Spike replied off handedly.  
  
"Does Buffy know that you're alive?"  
  
Spike shook his head.  
  
"You're different." Angel stated, narrowing his eyes at the other man.  
  
Spike shook his head, chuckling a little. "I didn't burst into flames like a soddin' barbecue when I went outside in the daylight. I was wondering if you knew anything about that." He said.  
  
Angel gasped as he stared into Spike's eyes and soul. "You're human."  
  
************************************************************************  
  
Buffy gripped the steering wheel tightly to the point where her knuckles turned white. "Stop it!" She hissed.  
  
Dawn, who was in the passenger's seat glared at her. "I want to go home." She said stubbornly, sounding like a four year old child having a temper tantrum.  
  
Buffy shook her head. "I am not going through this again."  
  
"I want to go home Buffy. I don't like it here. People are horrible. Everything is so damned NORMAL!" Dawn shrieked angrily.  
  
"That's exactly what we need, Dawn. Normal. Don't make this hard. Give it time. We'll get used to it." Buffy sighed, trying to be patient.  
  
Dawn groaned, suddenly pounding her fist on the dashboard.  
  
"God dammit Buffy! It's been six months. We are still miserable!"  
  
Buffy glared at her sister. They were having one of their fights again. Ever since they moved, all they've done was fight.  
  
"I don't care if it takes you six months or six years to readjust, Dawn! We are not going back to Sunnydale! It's a hole in the ground now anyway. There is no Sunnydale." She retorted.  
  
"You know what I mean Buffy. It's the people that I want to go home to. When you said we were moving, you didn't have to move us all the way to Florida. This is where people from up north go for vacation!" Dawn said angrily.  
  
"We're not leaving. There's nothing you can do about it." Buffy said firmly as they pulled up their driveway.  
  
Dawn groaned again as she got out of the car and slammed the door after her.  
  
Buffy bit her lip, refusing to stoop to her sister's immaturity. She was going to let Dawn cool off.  
  
Dawn walked into the house, slamming the door, almost hitting her sister. If it wasn't for Buffy's slayer senses, she would definitely been hit already.  
  
"This is shit!" Dawn yelled as she ran to her bedroom upstairs.  
  
"Watch you language!" Buffy calmly called after her.  
  
"I don't give a crap, Buffy. This is stupid. Your idea was stupid! You're stupid for dragging me all the way to the other end of the country when you knew that those people were my family!" Dawn continued to yell.  
  
Fed up and exhausted, Buffy threw her keys on the table and followed her sister. She shoved Dawn's door open and stood in the middle of her sister's room.  
  
"Do not call me names. I am trying the best I can to help you. To give you a normal life. Something that I could never have. You can have a future here, in Florida." Buffy said, trying to keep herself from yelling at the girl who was testing her patience.  
  
"Just because you want this does not mean that I do too. I was perfectly happy with the way we were." Dawn retorted.  
  
"You were happy that we never had one peaceful night, that we were being constantly hunted down? That our home is now a crate?"  
  
"Yes, Buffy. As much as you don't like to believe it, I was happy. That was home. I had my family there." Dawn retorted.  
  
"I'm sorry for taking you from them but I am trying the best I can here, Dawn. I really am." Buffy said grimly.  
  
"Well, it's not enough." Dawn said icily.  
  
Buffy looked at her, slightly hurt by her sister's bluntness and shook her head. "No, I guess not. It never is." She whispered. "But we're staying. There's nothing you can do about it."  
  
This was not the happily ever after that Buffy expected. But she knew that they'd have to live with it.  
  
Dawn shifted her position, crossing her arms in front of her. "Well see about that." She declared, daring her sister.  
  
"Okay, you know what? That's it. You're grounded." Buffy finally said before shutting the door behind her.  
  
Once Buffy was out of the room, Dawn picked up the nearest thing and threw it at the door. Clenching and unclenching her fists, she paced the room, occasionally groaning and muttering something about Buffy.  
  
She finally came to a stop. "I'll show her." She whispered darkly. Moving quickly, she took out the box of herbs and potions. She smiled.  
  
She sat in the middle of the small circle, her legs crossed Indian style. Dawn continued to chant while she cut and mixed the herbs and other ingredients into the clear vase which she used to replace a bowl.  
  
Desperate times called for desperate measures.  
  
"A little teleportation spell and I'm home." She whispered to herself. She continued to chant the words from the book that she had secretly taken from Giles' store. She knew that it would come in handy someday.  
  
Suddenly the knife she was holding slipped and she cut her palm. Dawn cursed, moving to wipe the blood from the floor but suddenly the blood whirled, forming into a growing portal.  
  
That was not part of the ritual.  
  
Wind entered the room, sucking her into the hole. Inside it, all she could see was darkness. Dawn screamed as she held on to her bed post while the portal continued to pull her in.  
  
"Buffy!" She screamed. "Buffy! Help me!"  
  
Downstairs, Buffy heard her screams and ran to her room as fast as possible. But when she opened the door, all she found were the remains of what appeared to be a ritual gone awry.  
  
Dawn's sheets were thrown all over. There were broken pieces of glass on the floor and worst of all, there was a small splatter of blood.  
  
"Oh, God." She gasped.  
  
~*~  
  
A/N: I KNOW THAT I PREVIOUSLY WROTE THAT SUNNYDALE STILL EXISTED BUT I MADE SOME CHANGES SO THAT IT GOES WITH THE FINALE. WELL NOW, SUNNYDALE IS GONE. BUFFY MOVED AND SO DID EVERYONE ELSE.  
  
IT'S PRETTY MUCH THAT EVERYONE WENT THEIR OWN WAYS.  
  
I HOPE IT WASN'T TOO CONFUSING SINCE I MADE SO MANY REVISIONS OF THIS CHAPTER.  
  
TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK.  
  
THANKS FOR READING. 


	2. Coming to Terms

A/N: THANKS FOR THOSE WHO REVIEWED. YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW GLAD I AM THAT SOME PEOPLE ARE INTERESTED IN THIS. ANYWAY HERE'S ANOTHER CHAPTER.  
  
ENJOY.  
  
~*~  
  
Dawn continued to scream as she fell into the black void. It was terrifying to be pulled down by a great force that she could not stop. Her hair whipped around her face as she flailed her arms to try to hold on to something. But there was nothing.  
  
She continued to fall until her body landed on something hard. She felt something wet on the back of her head and Dawn knew instantly that it was blood. She could also taste it in the back of her mouth.  
  
She groaned, feeling every part of her body ache.  
  
Dawn blinked, trying to focus on her surroundings, wondering where she was but her eyes betrayed her when all she could see was a blur.  
  
She felt someone walk over to her and look down. A cold, rough hand touched her face and Dawn tried to see who it was.  
  
"Buffy?" She croaked.  
  
The other person only growled as a response, sneering at Dawn as it lifted her off the ground.  
  
Her head rolled back and she wanted to fight but her body ached and she didn't have enough power to lift her hands.  
  
Dawn whimpered as she blinked back the tears before she fell unconscious.  
  
************************************************************************  
  
Buffy nervously twirled the telephone cord around her fingers as she held the phone to her ear.  
  
"I don't know where she is. We had an argument. She tried to do a spell and I think something went wrong. Willow you have to help me. I don't know anything about magic." Buffy's voice was frantic but like always her face remained calm, almost emotionless except she was chewing on her bottom lip.  
  
"I'll be there as soon as I can, Buff." Willow said softly. She paused. Buffy could almost see her best friend turning to the other people in the room who were standing nearby and mouthing to them what was going on. "I'll try to catch a plane today. And Buffy, Dawnie will be alright. She's a big girl."  
  
"I know. I just don't want to lose her too." Buffy whispered.  
  
"You won't." Willow reassured her firmly. "I'll see you soon."  
  
"Okay." Buffy then hung up before letting out a shaky breath. Her hand trembled as she guided herself up the stairs back to Dawn's room. She stood at the doorway for a long time and stared, trying to find some trace of evidence that might help her get her sister back.  
  
Nothing.  
  
Disappointed, she closed the door and went to her room and laid down and stared at the ceiling regretting what she had done.  
  
Everything was so horribly sad. It seemed that every time she chose to do something, she lost someone she loved.  
  
When Buffy ended the Apocalypse and lost Spike, she thought that moving away would be the best solution. She and Dawn could start fresh and they could have a normal life, away from the danger and death and pain of it all.  
  
Although Giles was disappointed, he understood.  
  
Even Angel understood her reasons. He had gladly bought them a house in Florida despite Buffy's protest.  
  
At first, everything was perfect. Dawn squealed like a normal teenager again when she saw the water and the endless population teenage boys.  
  
It was paradise.  
  
But paradise was not meant for people who experienced catastrophe and anguish and conflict. Something was lacking and Dawn knew it immediately but Buffy blinded herself from that.  
  
She was too determined to be "normal."  
  
That was how everything turned unpleasant.  
  
Buffy drifted off to sleep, her mind clouded by worry and regrets. She woke up the next morning to find Willow in the kitchen making breakfast.  
  
"You should have woken me up." Buffy said when she found her friend.  
  
Willow shrugged, pasting her trademark shy smile on her face. "You needed rest Buffy." Willow replied as she pushed a plate of eggs and bacon at Buffy's direction. "Eat. Then you tell me everything."  
  
Buffy refused to move. "We should get started. I don't want to lose any time." She said firmly.  
  
Willow frowned slightly and Buffy sighed.  
  
"I'll eat when we're done. Please, Will, we have to do this." She pleaded. The redhead nodded and walked over to Buffy and gave her a hug.  
  
"It's good to see you, Buff. I would have preferred that I see you for different reasons but hey, beggars can't be choosers right?"  
  
Buffy made a face but decided not to dwell on what her friend just said but there was something about it that irked her.  
  
They walked back to Dawn's room while Willow chatted excitedly about Florida and how beautiful it was and how lucky Buffy was to live there now.  
  
Buffy interrupted her softly. "Don't try to make it sound alright, Will. Please. I made a mistake, let's accept that. If we stayed in Sunnydale this would not have happened. Let's not pretend otherwise okay."  
  
Willow nodded again, her eyes glistening with tears for the pity that she felt towards her friend. "But Buffy, Sunnydale's gone. We all had to move. You can't blame yourself for everything, Buffy. We make our own choices. Dawn did too."  
  
"That's her room." Buffy declared as she pushed the door open. Willow walked in, her eyes scanning the area.  
  
"A portal opened." She said, looking back at Buffy.  
  
Buffy suspected as much. "How do you know?"  
  
Willow shrugged. "When Dawn's blood opened the portal you jumped into, I felt its power. It was-" Willow trailed off, unable to find words for what she felt. "Well, I feel that power again but not as great, just small traces of it." She explained.  
  
"Dawn opened a portal with her blood. Why would she do that and how would she know which incantation to use to make it work?" Buffy asked, crossing her arms in front of her.  
  
"She didn't. My theory is, she accidentally cut herself during the ritual and somehow it triggered a portal to open." Willow replied.  
  
Buffy nodded. "Can you do anything?"  
  
"Research first." Willow said as she picked up the remains of the herbs. "What was she trying to do anyway?" She asked.  
  
Buffy shrugged. "Trying to find a way home, I think." She whispered as they walked back downstairs.  
  
"We should call Giles." Willow suggested. Buffy didn't say anything.  
  
************************************************************************  
  
Angel sat in his office, tapping a pencil on his desk. Spike's visit unsettled him. It wasn't that he saw his grand-childe again. That too was a surprise knowing full well that they were never on good terms with each other.  
  
Spike had always resented him and Angel had to agree that he had every reason to considering the torture that he put the other man through.  
  
But it wasn't their history or longtime feud that irked him.  
  
It was the fact that Spike was rewarded with humanity.  
  
Angel scoffed. How ironic that Spike became human when all he was trying to do was be 'man enough' for Buffy.  
  
Angel, who had been longing to be human for so long, was unfortunately still a vampire.  
  
Angel shook his head. It was almost a slap in the face to him. He took away Spike's humanity and turned him into a creature so despicable but somehow, even without the soul, he learned to love, to feel like a human.  
  
And then he earned himself a soul, and now a chance to be human. It was admirable. Angel's soul had been a burden to him; a curse like the gypsies meant it to be. But Spike's soul was his gift.  
  
He has been given the opportunity to live like the rest of the world.  
  
It was a second chance that so few get to have.  
  
Spike was indeed lucky. No, Angel corrected himself. He was blessed.  
  
Angel smiled sadly, almost jealous that Spike had done so many great things in so little time. Angel on the other hand, spent centuries trying to repent for his sins. He realized now that the other man was stronger than he gave him credit for.  
  
Of course, Angel knew that Spike had potential. But Angel never saw it as something so great. Something so valuable even to Angel himself.  
  
He had always believed that Spike would retain to his true vampire nature, a soulless creature, filled with hate and evil, terrorizing the world.  
  
He never saw the possibility of Spike ever learning to love.  
  
He underestimated him.  
  
"Brooding?" It was Lilah's voice that snapped him out of his reverie. She had walked in his office and he failed to notice. Now she was standing in front of his desk, dressed in her trademark skirt and blouse, another amused look on her face.  
  
Brooding. Angel smirked at the word. It was something Cordelia used to tell him to stop doing.  
  
"How's our guest?" He asked her.  
  
"He's doing quite well for someone who just went through a complete improbable and impossible transformation." Lilah replied.  
  
"It's not impossible. He's a living proof that vampires can become humans." Angel declared. "What does Wes say about this?"  
  
Lilah's cheerful look failed to falter. Angel noted how great she was at masking her humanity. "I haven't spoken to him, boss." She answered. "Would you like me to 'summon' him?" Lilah beamed.  
  
"Call a meeting, excluding the senior partners." Angel pointed out. "Notify Lorne, Gunn, Wesley and Fred."  
  
Lilah pressed a button on the phone, and instructed someone to tell the four other people to meet at the conference room in five. "Done." She said. "Oh, and before you go, you should see this." She handed him an envelope.  
  
"Should we send help? We are after all into the whole redemption and goodness." She said.  
  
Angel shook his head. "Buffy can call me when she feels that she really needs help. Just keep an eye on it. I'm sure her friends can assist her on that. We have enough to worry about." He replied as he set the folder down and stood up to walk to his meeting.  
  
"Spoken like a true Wolfram and Hart associate." Lilah quipped.  
  
Angel gave her a chagrined look but decided not to say anything.  
  
The rest of the A.I. team, now known as the head executive officers of various departments of Wolfram and Hart, was already in the conference room, wondering to themselves why they were called to the meeting.  
  
"Everyone, take you seats." Lilah spoke out loud.  
  
"Shouldn't you be doing something else?" Gunn said to Lilah when she sat on Angel's left to join them.  
  
"She's with us and she's our link to Wolfram and Hart. She's staying." Angel spoke up.  
  
Lilah gave Gunn a triumphant look. Across from her, on Angel's right was Wesley who was leaning back on his chair, a slightly troubled look on his face.  
  
Lilah reminded himself that Wesley always frowned, troubled or not.  
  
"So what's the delio Angel cakes?" Lorne, who was across from Fred and beside Wesley asked.  
  
Angel cleared his throat. "I'm sure some of you are well aware of who Spike is."  
  
"Vampire. You sired him." Gunn declared. Angel remained stoic.  
  
"Actually, it was Drusilla who sired him." Wesley corrected. "Spike only claims that Angelus is his sire because it was Angelus who taught him the 'ways of the world'. He became Spike later in the century for using railroad spikes to mutilate his victims."  
  
Fred made a disgusted and slightly fearful look.  
  
Lorne nodded, knowing the history of the legendary vampire himself.  
  
Angel continued to say nothing.  
  
Lilah remained to look amused.  
  
"Not that I'm all enthusiastic about his life and all but could we skip the history lesson and get to the point?" Gunn said rudely.  
  
Wesley didn't look phased. Somehow, despite his own awareness, he had grown accustomed to Gunn's snappy comments and rude remarks.  
  
"Children." Lilah interrupted and Gunn shot her a look, wondering who the hell she thought she was. He never liked the woman and now she was slowly clawing herself into their group and getting Angel to trust her.  
  
"Okay, look, the reason you're all here is that Spike is back." Angel announced.  
  
"And that means?" Gunn asked.  
  
"He's human again. He is still Spike but human." Angel declared uncomfortably. He hated to say it as much as to believe it.  
  
"But I thought he died in the end of the Apocalypse." Fred pointed out.  
  
Angel gave Lilah a nod and she took it as her cue. "When Angel returned to Sunnydale to help Buffy, he gave her an amulet. Spike stole the amulet and used it to destroy all vampires in Sunnydale, including himself. How he became human is yet to be discovered." Lilah explained.  
  
"Actually, there is a prophecy." Wes pointed out. "In one of the books that I've been reading-" Gunn smirked. Wesley ignored him. "There's a passage that talks about a vampire. It said that the creature of the night will bring forth his own light. He will learn to feel despite his darkness. In return he will regain his humanity. At first I thought it meant you Angel but-"  
  
"Assuming that 'bringing for his own light' means retrieving his own soul and 'learning to feel' means loving, then we can definitely say that the prophecy was talking about Spike." Fred continued for him.  
  
Wesley smiled. "Yes." He answered softly.  
  
Fred nodded. The exchange did not go unnoticed.  
  
"Okay, Wesley, I need you to continue researching on the prophecy. Fred, find out how to make a vampire human. Do your science....stuff." Angel declared. "Lorne, I need you to read Spike. And Gunn, keep an eye on him."  
  
"Great, I get to play bodyguard." Gunn muttered to himself as they all rose to leave. Angel chose to let the comment pass. He sighed.  
  
He thought that with all the doom and death and destruction that just went through in the previous months, they could finally get along.  
  
But now that they were safe again and under the protection of Wolfram and Hart, team Angel was back to mindless bickering.  
  
Boy, Lilah, were you wrong. He thought to himself. We haven't 'growed up' as you phrased it. We just got bigger and meaner.  
  
************************************************************************  
  
Spike stood on the wharf by the water. His face was upturned to the sky, his eyes closed and his arms outstretch as if flying.  
  
It was his first week as a human and he spent most of his time outside, taking in the glory of the sun, not for one minute taking it for granted. A few centuries of being condemned to darkness and living during the night taught him that.  
  
He did not bother to ask and waste time contemplating on why and how this came to be. He would let Angel handle all that considering that he had the resources.  
  
If this was temporary then Spike wanted to live every moment of it before it was taken back.  
  
A gift like this was not something that was handed out so easily to any random vampire.  
  
He also learned a few things about humanity. It was complex and filled with pain and beauty and so many things he failed to notice before.  
  
Another thing he learned was that he could not go through a day without getting hungry or thirsty.  
  
Spike opened his eyes, placed his hands on the rail and sighed. He had almost forgotten what it was like to be human.  
  
It was a whole new experience for him again. He could feel everything: the heat of the sun, the cool sea water spraying on his face as it crashed against the docks.  
  
He never realized how dead he was until now.  
  
But despite his great gratitude to whomever it was the willed his fate, Spike could not help but feel a pang of regret.  
  
He could have everything now. Everything except Buffy. His world was just falling into place but still he wanted Buffy to complete that 'everything'.  
  
Spike wanted to share this with her but he knew that was wishful thinking. If Buffy found out that he was human, she would find a way not to like it. No matter how hard Spike tried, it was never enough.  
  
He had no idea where she was. The last time he saw her was before his 'great self sacrifice' and Buffy had been beyond eager to have Angel back at her side. He assumed Buffy was still in Sunnydale, being the good little slayer, calling Angel everyday and professing their love for each other over and over again.  
  
A part of him hated her for that; to say one thing to him and then turn around and do another. Somehow, Buffy's actions always betrayed her.  
  
He reckoned she didn't mean it but Spike knew that in the end, whether he had survived the apocalypse or not, Buffy would not have chosen him.  
  
That's why Spike had strictly insisted to Angel not to tell Buffy of his whereabouts. It was better for them-him, Buffy and Angel.  
  
Of course Angel agreed. Spike didn't bother to ponder on what Angel's reasons were for doing so. He just did not want to care.  
  
Spike could adjust to his new life. He could come and go freely and not be tied by his emotions for Buffy. The less he saw of her, the better.  
  
Buffy could finally stop hating herself and being ashamed for being with him. She too could finally be free.  
  
She and Angel could resume their eternal love for each other and live happily ever after like she always dreamed.  
  
Spike's love for Buffy would always remain unrequited and he wanted to come to terms with that.  
  
There was no point in chasing a girl who didn't want to be pursued.  
  
Spike sighed again before turning away from the wharf and walking back to the Hyperion.  
  
He had his whole life ahead of him and he wasn't going to waste it on his 'infatuation' with the slayer.  
  
~*~  
  
A/N: I KNOW THAT THERE WASN'T ANY ACTION IN THAT ONE BUT I HAVE TO TAKE THIS SLOWLY. I WANTED TO SHOW HOW THE PEOPLE INTERACTED WITH EACH OTHER. MOSTLY TEAM ANGEL.  
  
SPIKE AND BUFFY WILL MEET BUT A CHARACTER WILL HAVE TO BRING THAT INTO EFFECT. HINT HINT: A CERTAIN MISSING SISTER.  
  
I WILL ADD MORE INTERACTION BETWEEN ANGEL AND SPIKE.  
  
THE INFORMATION ON DARLA, ANGELUS AND SPIKE ANDHOW SPIKE CAME TO BE IS NOT 100 % DEFINITE SO PLEASE DON'T TAKE THAT TOO SERIOUSLY. I JUST REMEMBER THAT FROM SOMEWHERE. I DON'T EVEN KNOW.  
  
I KNOW THAT SOME OF YOU LIKE DEFINITE SOLID FACTS BUT I JUST DON'T HAVE THAT. LET'S PRETEND THAT THE INFORMATION IS RIGHT IN THIS STORY.  
  
SO TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK AND WHAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE IN THE NEXT CHAPTERS. IM OPEN TO SUGGESTIONS.  
  
THANKS FOR READING.  
  
REVIEWS PLEASE. 


	3. Treacherous Grounds

A/N: THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS. ANYWAY, HERE'S CHAPTER THREE. HOPE YOU LIKE IT. ENJOY.  
  
~*~  
  
Dawn's screams pierced the night air as the knife cut deep into her flesh, almost cutting into the bone.  
  
She struggled weakly while an old man held her bleeding arm down while another continued to cut.  
  
The man whispered to her as he brushed her dark hair from her tear streamed face. "It is your sacrifice, great Deliver. It is your duty to save us from damnation. Your blood wills the gates of the void to open." The man who appeared centuries old, explained to her calmly as his hands became soaked with her blood.  
  
She could barely remember how long she had been there but she distinctly recalled waking up in the same stone slab that she was now on. They had chained her wrists and ankles so she could not escape.  
  
First there were the Elders, the three eyed old men who dressed in robes.  
  
Then there were the Followers or the monsters that fervently came to her "shrine" to worship her.  
  
In the beginning, despite how frightened Dawn was, it wasn't all so bad. The Elders and Followers came to where she was shackled to worship her like a goddess.  
  
They explained that she was the creature of the light.  
  
But then the Elders found out that it was her blood that opened the portal that led her to them. They realized that it was the dark liquid that flowed in her veins that gave her power.  
  
And so they became hungry; hungry for her blood. They wanted her power and then the rituals began.  
  
They started to take small amounts of blood, at first cutting her skin just enough to draw blood. But then they needed more and so they began cutting deep until each time, Dawn would lose consciousness for days.  
  
She could barely remember how long it had been that she was lying on that slab of stone, chained and soaked in her own blood and tears.  
  
Dawn kept crying out for Buffy, to come and save her, to forgive her for defying her but her sister never came.  
  
Instead, Dawn was left to suffer in agony with no one, not even herself, to save her.  
  
************************************************************************  
  
"Dawn!" Buffy screamed as she woke in the middle of the night from a nightmare. Breathing heavily, she pushed the covers aside and sat up, putting her face in her hands.  
  
The door opened and Willow walked in, looking incredibly sleepy but worried nonetheless.  
  
"Buffy?" She asked as she walked over to her friend and sat next to her.  
  
"We have to find her, Will." Buffy whispered weakly.  
  
"We will. We just need more time." Willow reassured her.  
  
Buffy shook her head as she moved to face her friend. "We might not have enough time." She said tearfully. "I can feel it. She's in pain."  
  
"Buffy, it was just a dream." Willow whispered.  
  
Buffy shook her head. "No, she's part of me, Will. I know it when she's in pain." She insisted as she hugged herself as if cold.  
  
Willow nodded. "Okay. Maybe we should try another spell in the morning. I think I may have found something." She suggested despite her hesitation.  
  
They had already tried a number of spells for two weeks now since Willow arrived and she, as well as Buffy, knew that her energy was slowly draining from so much use of magic.  
  
"No, no more magic." Buffy replied. "I'm going to call Angel. I hate bothering him but we have no choice. We've asked everyone: Giles, Faith, everyone."  
  
Willow nodded; understanding. "Go back to sleep, Buffy. We'll call Angel as soon as you wake up."  
  
"I can't sleep." Buffy answered.  
  
"Okay." Willow replied as she stood to leave. "Just rest then. You haven't rested in so long."  
  
"But-"  
  
"Don't do this to yourself. There's nothing we can do for Dawn right now. In the morning, we'll call Angel." Willow protested and Buffy grudgingly relented.  
  
Willow shook her head sadly as she closed Buffy's door and walked back to the guest room.  
  
It was heartbreaking to see Buffy suffer again. No matter where she ran, it seemed that pain and agony followed her like a shadow.  
  
Buffy deserved some peace in her life, free of magic and monsters and vampires and danger. She deserved to be able to sleep and not worry whether or not someone had opened the hellmouth and another big bad was planning on destroying the city.  
  
Willow sighed again as she layed on her bed and slowly drifted into a fitful sleep.  
  
She was first to wake up the next morning and Willow was glad that she was able to make breakfast for her friend. It seemed almost like old times when she used to live with Dawn and Buffy in their house on Revello Drive. She remembered always waking up first and preparing the breakfast before the sisters woke up.  
  
Dawn would always come rushing into the kitchen, her dark hair bouncing as she greeted Willow cheerfully.  
  
Buffy would then follow, looking refreshed but serious. Buffy was always serious.  
  
"Hey." Buffy's voice interrupted her thoughts. "You didn't have to make breakfast."  
  
Willow shrugged, giving her friend a somewhat shy smile. "Old habit." She answered and Buffy nodded silently as she walked up to a stool and sat down. "Eat." She offered.  
  
Buffy picked her food and then ate it slowly. She said nothing while she ate, just occasionally sighing and taking small sips of her orange juice.  
  
Willow waited patiently.  
  
"I'm going to call Angel." She said as soon as she was finished. Willow nodded and started to clean up.  
  
"Okay."  
  
Buffy stopped and smiled sadly at her friend. "Thanks for being here." She said and Willow smiled..  
  
"Any time." She replied.  
  
Buffy then walked over to the phone and dialed the number that Angel had given her.  
  
"Wolfram and Hart, Mr. Angel's office." A rather happy woman picked up.  
  
"Can I talk to Angel please?" Buffy asked clearing her throat.  
  
"Sure thing, Ms. Summers." The woman said and Buffy frowned slightly. She never gave her last name.  
  
Buffy heard a click and then Angel's voice. "You didn't find Dawn, huh?" He said almost too smugly.  
  
Buffy frowned again. "How did you know?" She asked quietly.  
  
Angel sighed quietly on the other line. "Wolfram and Hart knows everything." He replied.  
  
"Then why didn't you help?" She demanded. It would have been so much easier had Angel helped them in the beginning since he had known that she was in trouble all along.  
  
"We've been kind of busy here, Buffy." He replied.  
  
"Okay, I'm sorry for snapping. Do you know anything that might be able to help us bring Dawn back?" She asked.  
  
"No, not really. She's in another dimension. That's all the mystics know for now. I have a couple of the staff researching your case right now." He said softly.  
  
You case? Buffy thought warily. Since when was she ever a case?  
  
"I'm going to go over there and see what they've come up with." She declared.  
  
There was a long pause before Angel spoke again. "I don't think that's a good idea right now, Buffy. You should stay in Florida." He declared.  
  
Buffy raised an eyebrow. Angel, no matter what happened to them, never told her not to see him. She knew that something was up.  
  
Angel knew something and he was deliberately trying to hide it from her.  
  
And she was going to find out.  
  
"Angel, this is my sister who's in trouble here. I don't know what you're trying to do but I'm going there and you're going to help me. End of story." She said firmly before hanging up on him.  
  
"Bad news?" Willow asked a few feet behind her.  
  
Buffy gritted her teeth. "He knows something and he doesn't want me to find out." She announced.  
  
"I'm sure it's nothing." Willow said but Buffy already had her mind set. "Are you still going?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
************************************************************************  
  
"Should we warn Spike of the slayer's impending arrival?" Lilah asked as she stood in Angel's office doorway. "We both know that the ex-vampire does not want to be found."  
  
The souled vampire shook his head. "No. She's coming straight here and Spike doesn't even go here at all. He's always wandering around the city." Angel replied.  
  
Lilah nodded with a soft smile as she walked over to his desk. "You know boss, you shouldn't worry about the little lady so much. It's not like she's endangering herself. She is after all, in a coma." She declared.  
  
Angel's frown deepened. "How did you know I was thinking of Cordelia?"  
  
"The look on your face says it all." She replied. "Here's what I found. I thought, maybe you'd be interested." She said as she handed him another one of the many folders that she had and will have.  
  
Angel's eyes lit up. "Where is this being now?" He asked her hopefully.  
  
Lilah smiled even wider. "The same place the youngest Summer's girl is. The problem is we don't know how to retrieve the creature."  
  
"We'll find a way." Angel said with determination.  
  
There was hope after all for Cordelia to wake up and Angel was going to make sure that she did.  
  
He wasn't going to lose anyone else anymore. No matter what it took. He had lost his son; twice now and then he lost Cordelia. Physically, she was there with him but her soul was somewhere else, maybe drifting some place.  
  
************************************************************************  
  
Spike pulled the curtains open and smiled.  
  
Another great day in the sun, he thought to himself as he drank his orange juice.  
  
He looked at the liquid and smiled again, remembering that not too long ago he was drinking blood.  
  
A touch of vodka made it even better.  
  
But now he was drinking orange juice and actually eating like any other human being. It had taken him a whole week to get a normal sleeping routine but now everything was great.  
  
He even considered the prospect of getting a job but decided against it. Human or not, he didn't want to become part of the complex and yet systematic routine of human life.  
  
Spike wanted sheer freedom and that was what he had now. No rules to time him down. He could do whatever he wanted, whenever it pleased him.  
  
It seemed surreal that not too long ago he didn't have what he had now.  
  
Suddenly he heard thunder roar and Spike frowned as he looked up at the sky. "What the-"  
  
The once clear blue sky was rapidly turning grey, hiding the sun away. Lightning struck from the sky, sending people scrambling for safety. He could hear people shrieking and suddenly he was brought back to his earlier days in Sunnydale.  
  
Spike could almost hear the potentials screaming and shrieking with fright. In the distance he could see Buffy.  
  
He shook the thought away, not wanting to think of the slayer and grabbed the phone and dialed Angel's number.  
  
The poof would know what to do.  
  
~*~  
  
A/N: WELL ANOTHER CHAPTER WITH NO ACTION. I PROMISE SPIKE AND BUFFY WILL MEET SOON. JUST REVIEW MORE. THAT'S ALL I ASK. A FEW WORDS FROM YOU WOULD BE REALLY NICE. SO TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK ALREADY AND MAYBE I'LL POST THE NEXT CHAPTER REALLY SOON.  
  
THANX. 


	4. A Day in the Life

A/N: THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS. I LIVE AND WRITE FOR THOSE. THEY MOTIVATE ME TO WRITE MORE. ANYWAY HERE'S CHAPTER FOUR. HOPE YOU LIKE IT.  
  
ENJOY.  
  
~*~  
  
Buffy cursed as she got out of cab in front of Wolfram and Hart and was met by a strong gust of wind. She looked up at the sky and saw that a storm was coming.  
  
Holding a small bag in her hand she looked up at the tall building in front of her and sighed.  
  
Her blonde hair whipped around her face, and she cursed again as a strand caught her eye.  
  
It seemed almost surreal that every other word that came out of her mouth was foul. Buffy rarely cursed, if not never.  
  
It was totally out of character and Buffy knew that the stress and worry over Dawn was causing her to act like this.  
  
She pushed the door open and was suddenly caught in the midst of bustling crowd of well dressed men and women.  
  
No one bothered to look up at her.  
  
"Ms. Summers, welcome to Wolfram and Hart. Angel is expecting you." A rather tall and beautiful brunette greeted her.  
  
Buffy raised an eyebrow but decided to remain quiet.  
  
"I'm Lilah Morgan." The woman said as she proceeded to lead Buffy towards the elevator. "Let's just say I work here."  
  
Buffy nodded, still silent. She noted that the woman was too happy.  
  
"Did Angel tell you why I'm here?" Buffy finally asked when the silence became unbearable and she could no longer stand watching Lilah smile happily.  
  
"Wolfram and Hart has limitless resources which allow us to know everything." Lilah replied cryptically and Buffy frowned slightly. "Don't worry, Buffy-I can call you Buffy right? We're on your side now and knowing everything is a great advantage. It helps us prepare." She said and the elevator finally reach Angel's floor.  
  
Buffy and Lilah stepped out. "So you know where my sister is." It was more of a statement than a question.  
  
Lilah glanced at Buffy and smiled again. "Yes, we know where she is."  
  
"Is she okay?" Buffy asked hopefully.  
  
Lilah chose to ignore her question and proceeded to announce her arrival to Angel as they entered an overly large office.  
  
Angel was standing in front of the window, completely unshielded from the sun which was now fortunately gone due to the clouds outside.  
  
"Angel, what are you doing standing in front of the window? Do you want to become dust when the sun comes back out?" Buffy asked frantically.  
  
Angel turned to face her but didn't answer.  
  
"The window is made of necro-tempered glass. All the windows in Wolfram and Hart are. Angel is completely safe from the sun as long as he stays inside the building." Lilah announced with another smile.  
  
Buffy wondered what was making her so happy. It was becoming unnerving.  
  
"How was your flight?" Angel finally spoke.  
  
"Angel, let's get to the point here. You have the resources to help me get my sister so I'm asking you to help me. I need to get her back." Buffy said firmly as she crossed her arms in front of her stubbornly.  
  
Angel nodded as he took a seat behind his desk. "We're going to help you, Buffy. However, it's going to take some time." He declared.  
  
"I don't have time." Buffy said in a softer more pleading tone. "My sister doesn't have time. She could get hurt."  
  
"I know. We're-"  
  
Suddenly, Angel was cut off by a lightning that struck his window. Miraculously, the glass didn't break and they were still all alive.  
  
Buffy looked startled.  
  
Angel remained calm.  
  
"What just happened?" She asked.  
  
"The building was created so it could withstand anything, even Mother Nature." Lilah announced from where she sat. "It even survived the rain of fire."  
  
Buffy wondered why she didn't leave and why Angel didn't ask her to leave in the first place.  
  
"It's not normal weather, is it?" Buffy asked, directly at Lilah knowing that even if she asked Angel the question, the other woman would answer for him.  
  
Lilah shook her head as she crossed her legs. "No, something has disturbed the dimensional mechanisms that prevent one plane from merging with another. It's been like that for almost twenty four hours."  
  
"What's causing it?"  
  
"Our researchers suspect that someone from the other side is trying to open a portal to reach this dimension."  
  
"It could be someone like Glory." Buffy turned to Angel.  
  
"Didn't you kill her?" Angel asked.  
  
Buffy nodded. "Who knows how many gods and goddesses there are like her. They could be repeating what she tried to do." She explained.  
  
"Buffy, you're jet lagged. Why don't find a hotel and rest for the day?" Angel suggested.  
  
The ex-slayer shook her head. "I don't want to rest. I need to know everything that can help get Dawn back."  
  
"Take this back to your hotel. We have copies." Angel said, handing her a brown folder. "You can look it over before you come back here. It's not much."  
  
"Thanks. Do you think I could stay at the Hyperion?" Buffy asked, knowing full well that he owned the hotel and had some of his friends stay there. It would be easier for her if she stayed there.  
  
Angel looked somewhat startled.  
  
"That's not a good idea. Lilah will arrange for you to find a good hotel." He said as inconspicuously as possible.  
  
Buffy stood in front of his desk stubbornly, a suspicious look on her face. "Is there something you want to tell me because I got to hand it to you, you're acting really weird, like you're covering something up?"  
  
Yeah, I'm hiding something. Angel thought to himself. Spike.  
  
Angel sighed. "Buffy, don't be difficult. Come back in the morning when you're less exhausted and maybe we can find something that will help you get Dawn back."  
  
Buffy nodded grudgingly, still not convinced with Angel. She decided to let his somewhat insulting statement slide.  
  
In the morning, she was going to set things straight with him.  
  
************************************************************************  
  
Spike walked to the direction of strange cloud, cursing himself for being too damn curious.  
  
He could see lightning strike at every direction and he muttered something about finally becoming human and getting himself killed by a lightning.  
  
He shielded his eyes with his arm as a strong gust of wind came into his direction. He looked up and saw that in the middle of the cloud, a small really noticeable hole was forming. He assumed that it was where the lightning came from.  
  
He wondered what Angel found about the anomaly. When he called him the day before, Lilah had explained to him that it was nothing to worry about and in due time, their researchers would find something and hopefully stop it.  
  
The area had been sealed off within a ten block radius.  
  
"Hey!" Spike yelled when he saw a boy at least eighteen standing in the path of the lightning, just waiting to be struck.  
  
The boy didn't budge or acknowledge Spike and he yelled again.  
  
Still nothing.  
  
"Bloody teenagers. Getting themselves killed." He muttered as he ran to the boy and pushed him to the side just in time before a lightning struck either of them.  
  
"What the hell are you doing?" The boy asked as he pushed Spike off of him.  
  
"I could ask you the same, junior. Are you trying to get yourself killed? Because if you were you should have plastered a sign on you forehead so I didn't have to bother to try and save you." Spike said angrily as he yanked the kid off the ground.  
  
"No one asked for your help." He said stubbornly.  
  
"Well, then, you just go on, stand there and get fried. I'm off." Spike said sarcastically as he began to walk away. There was no point in trying to save someone with a death wish.  
  
He figured that he might as well make himself scarce and out of danger.  
  
Suddenly the sky rumbled and the hole in the grey clouds opened wider. Lightning began to strike fiercer than before.  
  
Spike was suddenly mesmerized as he looked up. Luckily, the lightning seemed to go the other direction.  
  
The portal continued to open, and heavy rain fell on the streets, almost as if willing a flood to form.  
  
He looked over at the direction of the boy. He was still there, his eyes upturned to the dangerously opening portal.  
  
"We have to leave!" Spike yelled and the boy looked at him, a stubborn look on his face as he shook his head at the blonde ex-vampire. "Don't try to be stupid! Get yourself killed another time!"  
  
"I'm not leaving. We have to stay!" The boy argued.  
  
"Have to? Have you totally lost your senses?" Spike yelled. "I just became human. I'm not getting myself killed!"  
  
The boy gave him a strange look and Spike mentally reprimanded himself for the slip. "I have to stay! Something is coming. I can feel it!" The boy explained.  
  
Spike shook his head, deciding that the boy, whoever he was, had definitely lost his sanity.  
  
And if the boy was right that something was coming, Spike didn't want to be in the path of whatever large and presumably highly dangerous creature that was bound to come out in no time.  
  
"It's just a storm! Don't be an idiot!" He coaxed, not even believing his own words anymore.  
  
He turned to finally leave for good but the boy caught his arm, with a surprisingly strong grip. "Look!" He yelled as he pointed at the sky.  
  
Spike looked up, just as equally curious. Why he was compelled to stay and witness the event was beyond him.  
  
A red swirl of light rapidly touched the ground and in front of them two beings materialized.  
  
The larger figure, which Spike suddenly recognized as a girl, was on her knees clutching a small child in her arms as if shielding her from something.  
  
The girl's long dark hair was covering both their faces and they both looked equally filthy.  
  
The strange ray of light vanished and the storm calmed and the lightning disappeared but the cloud remained overhead.  
  
The girl looked up and Spike gasped, unable to believe his eyes. "Dawn?" He choked his words as he instantly ran to her.  
  
************************************************************************  
  
"Fred, did your team find anything on the storm outside?" Wesley Wyndam- Pryce asked as he stepped into Fred's laboratory which she liked to call her office.  
  
The petite Texan girl, now dressed in a sterile white lab coat looked up from her experiment. "It's a portal and whatever it was that tried to get through finally succeeded." She said somberly. "Two of them to be exact."  
  
"Two?" Wesley echoed as he readjusted his glasses.  
  
"Yes, two." Winifred Burkle or Fred to be short nodded her head as she walked to a monitor. "I had a few of my staff keep a surveillance team near the site. Being department head of the science division definitely has its perks. Anyway, this is what we found." She flicked the monitor on and a somewhat blurry image appeared on the screen. "They appear human. One is obviously larger than the other. We couldn't get a clear picture." She explained.  
  
Wesley nodded, his face growing serious again as he opened the book he had with him and flipped the pages. "I found a passage. It warns of a great storm or tempest that will allow for a very powerful 'guardian' to walk the earth." He announced.  
  
Fred shrugged her shoulders and slipped her hands into her coat pockets. "Wes, this 'guardian' could be anything. Does it even mention what it's guarding?"  
  
Wesley shook his head as he snapped the book shut. "I'll have do continue further research. Maybe I'll find something." He said.  
  
"Oh, and before I forget, maybe you'd be interested to know that there were two other people in the site. The team didn't get a clear shot of them either. The lightning kinda fried our surveillance." She said somewhat apologetically.  
  
Wesley nodded. "Did they at least find where the first two creatures went?"  
  
Fred beamed. "Yes and no. The surveillance van was grounded but what's interesting is this." She flicked the remote again and the front of the Hyperion appeared.  
  
"So, Spike was one of the two other people at the site. I wonder what he knows about these creatures. I'm sure he has contacts in the demon world that still report to him despite his current human state. We should go to the Hyperion as soon as possible." Wesley declared rather calmly. Unfortunately, Spike had the brilliant idea to cover the two creatures with his duster which didn't give Wesley or Fred a glimpse of the beings at all. "But who's the boy?"  
  
Fred shrugged. "I don't know. He seems familiar." She and Wesley stood there, their eyes cast on the boy with a too long hairstyle who eerily resembled Angel.  
  
~*~  
  
A/N: THERE'S ANOTHER CHAPTER THAT BRINGS SPIKE AND BUFFY TOGETHER. THEY WILL MEET REAL SOON BUT FIRST I NEED TO ASK A FEW THINGS FROM YOU GUYS.  
  
A) DO YOU THINK IT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA TO BRING FAITH BACK BECAUSE IM STILL DEBATING THAT IN MY HEAD  
  
B) WHO WOULD YOU WANT TO SEE PAIRED UP TOGETHER? I'M NOT ASKING FOR THE MAIN CHARACTERS. IT'S A GIVEN THAT SPIKE AND BUFFY WILL END UP TOGETHER AND SO WILL CORDY AND ANGEL.  
  
C) ANYONE HAVE ANY CRAZY SUGGESTION THEY MIGHT WANT ME TO INCLUDE INTO THE STORY?  
  
ANYWAY THANKS FOR READING. REVIEWS PLEASE! 


	5. Home Again

A/N: THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS IN THE PREVIOUS CHAPTERS. I REALLY APPREACIATE YOUR COMMENTS. ANYWAY, I STILL HAVEN'T DECIDED WHETHER I SHOULD BRING FAITH INTO THIS. PERSONALLY, I LIKE HER. SHE BRINGS TENSION INTO STORIES BUT LIKE I SAID, IM STILL NOT SURE. ANYWAY, HERE'S ANOTHER CHAPTER.  
  
ENJOY.  
  
~*~  
  
Spike saw that Dawn tried to stand and then staggered weakly as her frail legs gave out from under her.  
  
The weight of the little girl in her arms did not help either.  
  
But luckily, he caught her and the little girl just before they slammed against the asphalt.  
  
The boy he had met just a few seconds ago was by his side in an instant, asking him what to do.  
  
At least, he's being helpful, Spike thought to himself as he instructed him to take the little girl while he carried Dawn.  
  
She felt strangely light in his arms and he carried her with ease back to the Hyperion, the boy and little girl in tow.  
  
He was deathly silent along the way, his thoughts too clouded with worry and anticipation to try to sum up some sort of conversation with the boy, who had introduced himself as Connor.  
  
Sighing with relief as they stepped into the lobby, Spike glanced at Dawn's unconscious form.  
  
They had walked for almost twenty minutes and Dawn hadn't blinked her eyes open, not once and it set a spark of worry in Spike's brain.  
  
At least, he could hear her breathing. Barely but still breathing. It gave him some sort of reassurance.  
  
He saw Lorne look up from the indoor plants he was watering and instantly walk over to him, casting a quick glance at the two unknown figures beside him.  
  
Connor curiously looked at him but seeing a green 'man' with horns did not take the cake from seeing two girls appear from a portal. When people told him that Los Angeles was a place of adventure and strange things, Connor hadn't anticipated that things were 'this' strange.  
  
Lorne muttered something about a costume before returning his attention to Spike who was still standing on the steps, a troubled expression on his face.  
  
"She's not waking up." Spike muttered about Dawn and Lorne nodded.  
  
"Take her to one of the rooms. I'll call Angel." Lorne replied.  
  
Spike hesitated for a second, wondering whether bringing Angel into the picture would be a good idea.  
  
But he let it slide, nodded instead and walked up to the upper floors to find a room, motioning for Connor to follow him.  
  
Now was not the time to worry about Angel. After all, the vampire had resources that could help them.  
  
Spike set Dawn as gently as humanly possible on the bed, wishing that she would open her eyes even for a brief second. He removed the duster that he had used to cover her and threw it on the empty chair nearby.  
  
His gaze went to her stomach where piece of her shirt was torn off and a large gash cut straight across. He hadn't seen it before and winced at the sight of the wound.  
  
"I think she's okay." Connor said and interrupted his thoughts but the much younger boy wasn't talking about Dawn. He was referring to the little girl who hadn't uttered a word ever since he took her away from Dawn's hold.  
  
She looked about three or four; Spike couldn't tell. Her brown hair was too long and untamed for a child her age and judging from her thin frame and her ribs sticking out, the little girl was malnourished.  
  
He sighed, shaking his head as he sat down next to Dawn. She looked more like a corpse than unconscious.  
  
Spike wondered what happened. The Bit looked like she had gone through some rough times-that was definitely the understatement of the century.  
  
He wondered if the hell mouth had reopened again. But Angel had assured him that it was gone and there was nothing to worry about.  
  
It was the one of the many things that kept him from going back. Human or not, he would have gone back to Buffy if he knew that she needed him.  
  
Apparently, something had gone horribly wrong or Dawn would not be in the condition she was now in.  
  
But why hadn't Angel told him?  
  
He snapped himself out of his stupor and asked Connor if the little girl was wounded as well just as Lorne came into the room, a grim look on his face.  
  
"Angel's on his way." He declared as he moved to inspect Dawn. He made a hissing sound when he saw Dawn's wound. "She has a fever and this wound is infected. There's poison in it."  
  
"Is it going to kill her?" Spike asked.  
  
Lorne shrugged apologetically. "I don't know. Maybe Wesley and Fred can figure out what's in her system. It doesn't look good." He replied.  
  
"And the child?" Spike asked, nodding at the little girl's direction. She was now curled on Connor's lap, her head resting against his chest while she stared intently at Dawn as if willing her to wake up.  
  
Connor's arm was protectively wrapped around her thin frame, his chin resting slightly on her head.  
  
Spike noted how natural it looked for the two children to be sitting there, both lost in their own worlds. They looked like they 'belonged', whatever that meant.  
  
Lorne moved to inspect her but the little girl whimpered and edged against Connor for protection.  
  
"You're scaring her. Can it wait?" Connor asked gently and Lorne nodded. He was against it but there was nothing they could do.  
  
The eighteen year old had already made it his duty to protect the child, despite the fact that they were strangers.  
  
It felt only right.  
  
************************************************************************  
  
"Tell me what he said exactly." Buffy asked Angel for the third time. They were in the limousine, on their way to the Hyperion and Buffy's constant inquiry was slightly driving Angel crazy.  
  
Lorne had called him earlier asking him to bring to the whole team and the slayer to the Hyperion. The green demon had known about the slayer's arrival.  
  
He sighed, not that breathing was necessary for his survival but it was hard to let go of the habit.  
  
"He didn't say anything. He said to bring all of you to the Hyperion. He said it was important. It could be anything." Angel replied softly.  
  
Buffy nodded; a firm look on her face. "It's Dawn."  
  
"Buffy, we're not sure." Angel told her.  
  
She shook her head, determination written over her face. "I know that it's her. If it wasn't, why would you bring me along?"  
  
Point taken, Angel nodded silently. It felt slightly claustrophobic in the limousine, despite its size. Wesley, Fred, Gunn, Lilah, himself, and Buffy were all sharing the vehicle.  
  
Angel hoped Buffy wasn't setting herself up for a huge disappointment.  
  
The car came to a halt and everyone scrambled out to let Angel through. Shielded from the sun by a thick blanket, he ran to the Hyperion as fast as he could.  
  
It was moments like these that he truly envied Spike. The ex-vampire had the luxury of just walking out in broad daylight and not having the fear of becoming toast.  
  
Angel stepped into the lobby, discarded the blanket and straightened himself. Team Angel, along with Buffy, Lilah and a few armed guards in a Hummer in case something went 'very wrong' followed suit.  
  
"Where are they?" Buffy asked as she scanned the room.  
  
"Upstairs." Lorne who had gone to greet them declared from the top of the stairs.  
  
Everyone nodded silently as they followed the green demon.  
  
Buffy clenched and unclenched her fists as her heart began to beat rapidly. She was bracing herself for what she would find. From the dismal expression on Lorne's face, Buffy suspected she wasn't going to be thrilled.  
  
The green demon cast a worried look before pushing the door open and letting the group inside.  
  
Buffy froze the minute she stepped into the room and gasped. It wasn't Dawn's cataleptic body on the bed that made her catch her breath but it was the man sitting beside her sister, looking down on the floor.  
  
As if sensing her, Spike looked up and the shock of seeing the slayer there was just as evident on his face as it was on hers.  
  
He looked disheveled and tired. And light from the window hit him from behind, which made his unruly curls of blonde hair seem like a halo.  
  
Buffy assumed that the Hyperion was fitted with the same necro-tempered glass in Wolfram and Hart.  
  
She could almost feel herself reeling as she continued to stay rooted on her spot, staring at Spike with her breath held as long as humanly possible.  
  
Her world was just turned upside down and at that moment, she needed to sit down but refused to show weakness. For over six months, she mourned him, believing that she had lost him all those time.  
  
And yet there he was, looking startled but keeping his calm despite the glare that he was giving Angel.  
  
Spike said nothing but cleared his throat before turning to Dawn.  
  
Whatever it was between them, whatever they had to settle would have to wait.  
  
Buffy let out a breath as she took long strides toward Dawn. She could hear the others shifting and suddenly realized how deathly silent the room had fallen into.  
  
"Dawn?" She whispered. Her throat felt scratchy from the dryness in her mouth. Seeing her dead 'boyfriend' alive seemed to have that effect on her. When the younger girl didn't move, Buffy felt for her pulse. "What's wrong with her?" It was an open question and Spike decided he might as well answer her.  
  
He cleared his throat, feeling slightly uncomfortable being so close to her after a long time. "She came through a portal. She was wounded. Lorne thinks there was poison in whatever it was that cut her." He said softly and Buffy nodded, her gaze lingering at him longer than anticipated.  
  
She wanted to see if he was real, if the voice that she heard and man that she saw wasn't a hallucination.  
  
The little girl shifted on Connor's lap, redirecting the attention towards them. Angel was looking at Connor with a sad expression on his face but no one noticed except for Lilah who knew the whole story.  
  
"The boy's with me." Spike declared knowing full well that the curious occupants in the room wanted an explanation.  
  
"And the girl?" Gunn asked.  
  
"Don't know who she is. She was with Dawn." Spike replied as he shifted his weight from one foot to another.  
  
"We should take them back to Wolfram and Hart for further testing. They both need medical attention." Fred said softly and no one protested but Connor's arm tightened slightly around the little girl.  
  
"Is that a hospital?" He asked.  
  
Wesley shook his head, cleared his throat and re-adjusted his glasses. It was eerily like something Giles usually did, Buffy noticed. "It's a law firm but we deal with special cases." He clarified.  
  
Connor nodded, not satisfied with the answer but he suspected that it was all he was going to get.  
  
"Right then we should get a move on this. We can't all linger here and risk the Bit dying." Spike declared firmly and everyone mumbled something in response and started to clear out.  
  
Before Buffy could do anything, Spike had already picked Dawn up and was moving to leave the room.  
  
She looked at him uneasily and decided not to say anything. She was still slightly shocked with the prospect of seeing him, back from the 'undead'.  
  
Connor refused to let anyone take the little girl and he as well, went with the group.  
  
Angel was pleased with that idea. The more he saw his son, the better. He imagined never seeing him again. He had after all erased Connor's existence, at least in people's memory.  
  
He realized that Connor had lost his hard edge. The anger and resentment in his eyes and the defensiveness in the way he stood was gone. But Angel saw from the way he held the little girl that Connor was still protective.  
  
That at least would never change about Connor.  
  
Once in the lobby, Angel retrieved the blanket again and ran to the car, mortified that Connor had to see him that way.  
  
The teenager just looked shocked.  
  
"He's a vampire. The sun fries him." Lilah commented casually when she saw the expression on his face.  
  
The older brunette had ordered the armed guards to stay behind so that the rest of the group could take the Hummer back to Wolfram and Hart.  
  
Buffy wondered why Spike wasn't getting a blanket for himself as well as they neared the door and when he stepped out into the sunlight, she gasped.  
  
At first her initial reaction was the thought that Spike had definitely committed suicide by getting himself fried but then the fact that he was still standing in one piece brought her into utter shock.  
  
She struggled to say something but no words escaped her mouth and she was left gaping at the sight of Spike, in the bright light of the sun as if he belonged there.  
  
Spike took a quick glance at her direction, as if wondering whether she noticed what was happening but when their eyes locked; he looked away and slipped into the Hummer, Dawn with him.  
  
Connor followed suit, wanting to be close to the person that he felt that he was in someway connected to.  
  
Buffy did the same.  
  
Angel wanted to join them but Lilah gave him a warning look in the limousine. He didn't belong there, at least as far as everyone was concerned. Fred rode in the Hummer with Spike, Buffy, Connor and the children to keep an eye on Dawn's vitals while the rest took the limousine.  
  
The car was deathly silent.  
  
It was going to be a long ride.  
  
~*~  
  
A/N: THERE IT IS. EVERYONE'S FINALLY BACK WHERE THEY BELONG. DAWN'S HOME. BUFFY AND SPIKE FINALLY MET EACH OTHER. CONNOR'S BACK IN THE GROUP.  
  
THERE WILL BE AN EXPLANATION FOR THE LITTLE GIRL THAT DAWN BROUGHT WITH HER. ANY GUESSES?  
  
AND THERE WILL DEFINITELY BE MORE BUFFY/SPIKE MOMENTS. SO COME ON TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK. I LIVE FOR YOUR REVIEWS.  
  
ANYWAY, THANKS FOR READING.  
  
REVIEWS PLEASE. 


	6. Truth Be Told

A/N: THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS. I GET ALL EXCITED WHEN I GET THEM AND I GET MOTIVATED TO WRITE EVEN MORE. SO, HERE'S ANOTHER CHAPTER. I MADE IT EXTRA LONG SO BECAUSE YOU GUYS WERE NICE ENOUGH TO REVIEW MY STORY. BEFORE YOU DO, HERE'S A FEW REMINDERS THAT I SHOULD LET YOU GUYS KNOW SO THAT IT WON'T BE TOO CONFUSING.  
  
1. EVERYONE IN WOLFRAM AND HART KNOWS THAT SPIKE IS HUMAN.  
  
1. ANGEL NEVER TOLD BUFFY ABOUT SPIKE AND HE ALSO DIDN'T TELL SPIKE ABOUT  
WHERE BUFFY WAS AND WHAT HAPPENED WITH DAWN. SO SPIKE THINKS THAT  
EVERYTHING IS STILL THE SAME IN SUNNYDALE, EXCEPT FOR THE WHOLE  
APOCALYPSE BEING AVERTED AND STOPPED YET AGAIN BY GOOD OLD TRUSTY SLAYER  
BUFFY AND HER TEAM.  
  
1. SPIKE ALSO THINKS THAT BUFFY AND ANGEL ARE TOGETHER BECAUSE HE SAW THEM  
KISSING BEFORE HIS SO CALLED DEATH.  
  
1. ONLY ANGEL, LILAH AND WOLFRAM AND HART KNOW WHO CONNOR IS. THIS WHO  
CONNOR THING IS COMPLICATED BUT I'LL EXPLAIN IT AND YOU'LL FIGURE THIS  
OUT ALONG THE WAY.  
  
I DON'T NEED TO ELABORATE AND MAKE THIS AUTHOR'S NOTE SUPER LONG.  
  
ANYWAY, YUP. THERE IT IS. I HOPE IM NOT FORGETTING ANYTHING. ENJOY AND DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW.  
  
~*~  
  
The silence in the Hummer was almost unbearable. Everyone remained hushed and there was no noise except for the revving of the engine beneath them.  
  
Small sighs escaped Buffy's lips as she made every effort not to look at Spike.  
  
She kept her eyes on Dawn's pale face but she was a million miles away, lost in her own world of troubled thoughts.  
  
She wanted an answer for the miracle she just witnessed but despite how curious she was, Buffy stopped herself from opening her mouth and asking him or anyone else in the car.  
  
Spike was doing the same, trying to ignore her or pretend that her presence didn't bother him in any way. He seemed more relaxed than his female counterpart. He had his back against the wall, his head titled back and his eyes closed. It was the only way he knew how to calm himself.  
  
Spike wished for a cigarette then. Or better yet Vodka.  
  
Fred and Connor remained silent because it felt almost wrong to break the silence. They both could see the tension between the two other people.  
  
Connor kept his attention on the small child in his arms while Fred pretended to look through Wolfram and Hart's medical database from her laptop so that she would have something to do other than sit in discomfort and listen to the agonizing silence.  
  
Everyone sighed with relief when the Hummer came to a stop and driver opened the doors and told them to get out.  
  
Fresh air and noise was welcome any time.  
  
Fred wished never to go through that again. It was almost self torture to sit there and not utter a word for so long.  
  
Angel, Wesley, Gunn and Lilah met them inside Wolfram and Hart and they all made their way through the crowd that didn't seem to mind them.  
  
Lilah directed them to the hospital wing of the building-another area that no one knew about.  
  
She just smirked knowingly when Gunn asked why they weren't informed about this.  
  
Dawn was laid on a stretcher and wheeled through the white sterile doors of the wing where half a dozen doctors, as well as Fred who took charge, clamored around her.  
  
An I.V. tube was attached to her arm while another doctor check her vitals, did an X-ray scan and told everyone to step back as they worked on her. Blood samples were taken and her wound was inspected both for science and mystical research in the near future.  
  
Buffy watched in silence, feeling quite useless and out of place. But she wanted to be near her sister, to be there in case--no, Buffy wouldn't let herself think that far ahead.  
  
Dawn was going to make it.  
  
Spike stood nearby, pretending not to pay attention to Buffy but actually watching her carefully from the corner of his eyes.  
  
Connor and the child were brought to another section for medical 'testing.'  
  
Angel kept watched; wanting to make sure that Connor was not harmed or threatened in any way.  
  
Wesley disappeared earlier to continue his research on Dawn and the mysterious little girl while Gunn went somewhere to do something-no one knew exactly. At that moment, no one really cared.  
  
They were too preoccupied with their own worries.  
  
When the hustle and bustle with Dawn and the child finally settled, Buffy was allowed to sit with her sister and everything fell into silence again.  
  
Fred, no matter how exhausted, sat in front of her computer and tried to find an explanation to Dawn and the little girl's sudden appearance and perhaps a cure to whatever it was that was slowly killing the slayer's baby sister.  
  
She had a few of her team keeping a close eye on the two girls.  
  
Wesley was doing the same and after a few tedious hours of flipping pages and decrypting ancient texts, he finally stumbled on something that might be of some potential.  
  
Connor was sitting on a rather comfortable chair, his head rested on the side while his arm was outstretched to the bed, his finger curled around the little girl's small ones. The child was lying beneath the blanket that Fred had given her, her bony hands sticking out so that she could reach and hold Connor's hand.  
  
It was strange how she needed physical contact for reassurance but knowing that someone was there for her, when Dawn could not, made her feel slightly safer and calmer.  
  
On the other side of the room, Buffy was sitting next to Dawn, stroking her sister's hair softly, and making mental notes on how Dawn had changed in the last few weeks since her disappearance.  
  
She had an old scar on her forehead and larger ones on her arms and near her wrists and Buffy had to wonder what kind of horror Dawn went through.  
  
"Please be okay." Buffy whispered softly as she bent down to kiss Dawn's cold, pale cheek.  
  
It tore at her heart not being able to help her, to just sit and be so helpless. It almost reminded her of their mother's death.  
  
Buffy wished that there was something, anything that she could do.  
  
On the other side of the bed, Spike was sitting on a chair, his back so straight he looked almost 'too' proper. He remained silent because he didn't know what else to do.  
  
He wanted to console Buffy but that would be too strange, knowing full well that they hadn't seen each other in over six months and she believed that he was dead all along.  
  
Suddenly, Buffy stood up without as much as a glance at his direction and left to find Angel who had also disappeared earlier.  
  
Spike suspected as much and shook his head in disappointment.  
  
************************************************************************  
  
Buffy pushed the door open to Angel's office and stepped inside.  
  
As usual, he was seated behind his enormous desk, with the drapes pulled back to let some sun inside the room.  
  
He was brooding in silence. How typical, Buffy thought.  
  
"We need to talk. Alone." Buffy said pointedly as she glanced at Lilah who made no effort to leave.  
  
Buffy wondered why the woman was always by Angel's side.  
  
Even she wasn't that clingy when she and Angel were involved.  
  
The vampire nodded at the brunette to leave and Lilah smiled as if she knew a great secret that no one else did.  
  
She left and shut the door behind her.  
  
"Buffy." Angel said. "Have a seat."  
  
She remained standing, an act of defiance on her part. She crossed her arms in front of her and glared at him.  
  
"You knew." She said icily and Angel shifted in his seat. "How long has he been.....been-"  
  
"Human?" Angel finished for her.  
  
Buffy looked startled. It wasn't what she expected him to say but she suspected as much. "Yes. Human." She echoed.  
  
"A few months, maybe two or three. I wouldn't really know. He just came to me for answers a month ago." Angel answered.  
  
"And you couldn't tell me because?" She demanded.  
  
"It wasn't my place." Angel answered softly.  
  
Buffy scoffed. "I deserved to know the truth. You knew how much it.....it hurt me and yet you kept the truth from me."  
  
"It wasn't my place to tell you." Angel repeated.  
  
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" She snapped angrily. "You knew how important he was to me and yet you kept something this important all this time! You deliberately lied to me!"  
  
"Buffy calm down."  
  
"I am not calming down. How could you do that to me? How could you lie to my face for months?" She yelled.  
  
"He asked me not to say anything."  
  
"And since when did you ever listen to him or even do anything he asked?" She demanded furiously. Buffy couldn't bring herself to say Spike's name. It hurt too much. "I trusted you to tell me the truth."  
  
Suddenly the door creaked open and Buffy silenced herself, heaving softly. Her back stiffened when she sensed him.  
  
"I heard yelling." Spike said uncomfortably. He had taken a walk in the building and somehow he ended up in Angel's office.  
  
Thanks to Lilah of course, who found him in the halls and intentionally directed him to the 'right' direction.  
  
Just my luck, he thought to himself.  
  
"We're busy." She said coldly, not bothering to turn and face him.  
  
"I can see." He said brusquely. "I'll leave you two alone then." He said but Angel quickly rose from his seat.  
  
"No, Spike." He said. "Stay. You and Buffy need to settle this." He said and Spike grudgingly relented.  
  
He was not ready for a confrontation with the slayer and from the expression on Angel's face, she was mighty pissed.  
  
Presumably about the little truth that he and Angel kept from her.  
  
Buffy glared at Angel as he exited the room.  
  
She'll thank me for this later, her reminded himself.  
  
And he didn't want to stay and endure the yelling from Buffy. True, he deserved some reprimanding from her for keeping the secret about Spike's whereabouts and current state but still; he preferred to be anywhere else at that moment.  
  
The door slid shut and Angel was gone. Only Buffy and Spike were left in the room. She kept her back towards him, refusing to look at him.  
  
Spike refrained from moving and stared at her.  
  
"Did you ever plan on telling me or were you going to let me believe that you were dead forever?" She asked. Her voice was stiff and tense and judging from her posture, Buffy was restraining herself from letting loose her anger.  
  
Still, she kept her back towards him.  
  
Spike shrugged and Buffy could almost see him doing it. How like him to just shrug.  
  
"If you ever needed me, I would have gone back to tell you."  
  
She wanted to say that she needed him, always did, even before she knew it and maybe always will but she didn't.  
  
"And when was that?" She demanded. Finally she turned to face him, her face grim with anger and a mixture of hurt and disappointment.  
  
"Up to you, love." He replied. The words came so easily and out of habit that Spike bit his tongue.  
  
"No, it's not up to me. How could it be up to me when I had no clue you were alive?" She asked in frustration, her face twisting into a scowl. Buffy had visions of just walking up to him and slapping him across the face but she didn't.  
  
She wouldn't dare herself to go so close to him. Any sort of physical contact was not what she needed right now. Especially not from him.  
  
She wanted answers. She needed them.  
  
"When the time was right, I would have told you. I needed some time to think." He replied.  
  
"And so you and Angel thought it would be fine and dandy to let me believe that you were dead all along?" She asked in disbelief.  
  
"Hey, I did you a favor-you and Angel. You should be grateful." He said when Angel's name was brought up. "With you still thinking that I was dead, you and the poof could finally live happily ever after."  
  
Buffy sighed loudly. "Have you lost your mind?" She shrieked. "Can you not see that Angel and I are long over? Did you not hear what I said to you before you died?"  
  
Spike shook his head. "You can't blame a guy for thinking that way. You and Angel are meant to be, isn't that what you've always said to me? To everyone? And just because you said those three little words to me does not mean that you meant them. Hey, you thought I was going to die anyway, right? So what's the harm in telling me a little fib?"  
  
With that said Buffy walked over to him and slapped him. She didn't want to but it was the only thing that she knew how to do at that moment.  
  
"For over six months, I grieved you. I cried for you. I buried an empty grave for you because I believed that you earned that at least. Because I owed it to you." She declared heatedly.  
  
"Just like you thought you owed it to me to tell me you loved me even when you never meant it?" He dared to ask the question, but like her also needed some answers.  
  
"I meant those words. I would never have said it if I didn't." She replied, hurt written all over her face. Why couldn't he accept the truth now?  
  
Hadn't he always wanted her to tell him that she loved him? That she felt the same?  
  
Why not listen to her now when actually told him the truth?  
  
"No, you didn't." He declared firmly, his blue eyes hard with anger. "I'm not a fool Buffy. Before you said you loved me, you were kissing Angel."  
  
She looked shocked but she said nothing to deny it. She searched in the back of her mind when he saw them kissing but it didn't matter now. Buffy only wished he stuck around long enough to hear what she said to Angel in the cemetery.  
  
"It doesn't matter if I kissed him. The point is you kept this from me. You were alive this whole time and you kept me and everyone else believing that you weren't. Or am I the only one who isn't in on this?" She said angrily.  
  
Spike scoffed.  
  
He had enough.  
  
"What did you expect me to do? Do you honestly think that I knew that I was going to become human? What was I supposed to do? Leave you a little post-it note saying, 'hey Buffy, when this is over don't forget that I'll be human. Maybe you'd like another chance?'" He retorted sarcastically. "And what made you think that I would have gone running back to you? I loved you more than I ever loved anyone my whole life, vampire or otherwise, but despite what I did, you kept pushing me away. I did everything for you and it was never good enough! I got myself a soul and in your eyes, I became worse of a monster. I was never enough!" He yelled. "I have to admit that there were times that you stood up for me and that you were actually kind but did you bloody well think that you would always have me or any man out there by treating me like trash day in and out?"  
  
She stepped back as if he had slapped her. "So this is my fault?"  
  
He sighed. "Not entirely but you did play your part. The world does not always revolve around you and your needs, Buffy. Now, I'm sorry for lying, for having Angel deceive you and your family. Perhaps, you deserved more than that but it was my decision and I needed time for me. I needed to find myself."  
  
"And it was more convenient not to have me around, is that it?" She asked truly hurt.  
  
"It made things clearer not to have you there. I needed to set things straight with myself. Besides, I also believed that you and Angel were back on your love fest." He smirked at that.  
  
"You could have always asked." She whispered.  
  
"And what if I was right? What would I have gotten out of that?" He queried.  
  
"The truth." She replied. "We could all have gotten the truth we needed and a lot of hurt could have been avoided."  
  
He shrugged. "We'd still be hurting no matter what. That's how our so- called-relationship went. Hate, hate and more hate."  
  
"It wasn't 'so called'. It meant something. And it wasn't all hate." She replied.  
  
Spike nodded incredulously. "Right I forgot. I loved you but I was your personal punching bag, body guard and a perfectly good lay." He sneered. Humanity made him resentful, more than usual.  
  
"Stop it."  
  
"Just saying some nasty truths, love. Isn't that what you wanted?" He retorted.  
  
"You meant something." Buffy pressed. "That's up to you to believe it or not."  
  
"Fine." He replied.  
  
Buffy looked at him, wondering what to do now. She was hurt and angry and she wanted to lash out at him but for the life of her she couldn't.  
  
She was just so overwhelmed and happy that he was back. That there was hope still, that she might be able to make up for the mistakes she made with him.  
  
But what hurt her most was that no matter how hard she tried, he wouldn't believe her when she told him how she felt. Add that to the lies she was fed and it evened out to more hurt.  
  
"Congratulations." She whispered dejectedly.  
  
"For?" He asked, slightly confused.  
  
"You win." She said sadly.  
  
Spike frowned. "This was never a game, Buffy." He said firmly.  
  
"Whatever." She said and walked past him and out the door. Buffy sighed once the door shut behind her.  
  
She looked back, half expecting him to follow. But the door remained shut and Spike never came out.  
  
She shook her head, thwarted and hurt and walked back to the infirmary where Dawn waited for her. Tears stung her eyes and she tried to calm down.  
  
She didn't want anyone to see her crying.  
  
Now she knew how it felt when she treated Spike that way. Buffy swallowed her tears.  
  
The truth always did hurt.  
  
~*~  
  
A/N: A FEW QUESTIONS TO MY READERS:  
  
1. WHO KNOWS WHO THE LITTLE GIRL IS? AND WHY IS SHE SO ATTACHED TO CONNOR?  
MAKE A GUESS. I DON'T CARE.  
  
1. WHO KNOWS WHAT'S WRONG WITH DAWN? I LEFT HINTS ALL OVER THE STORY  
PEEPS. ESPECIALY IN THIS CHAPTER. SOMEONE SHOULD FIGURE IT OUT AND IF  
NOT, WHATEVER. YOUR REVIEWS ARE GOOD ENOUGH.  
  
1. ANY GUESSES ON WHO THE GUARDIAN IS? IF YOU FORGOT ABOUT THAT, I  
MENTIONED IT IN THE PREVIOUS CHAPTERS. WESLEY READ SOMETHING ABOUT IT.  
  
IF ANYONE HAS A SUGGESTION ON WHAT THEY WOULD LIKE TO SEE HAPPEN, WHO THEY WANT TO COME BACK, FEEL FREE. I DON'T CARE HOW WEIRD OR DIFFICULT OR UNLIKELY YOUR IDEA IS. ONE THING I WONT DO THOUGH IS BLOCK ANY CHARACTER FROM BEING INCLUDED. ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE.  
  
ANYWAY, THIS IS GETTING TOO LONG.  
  
THANKS FOR READING.  
  
REVIEW ALREADY SO I CAN GIVE YOU MORE SPUFFY MOMENTS. 


	7. When You Least Expect It

A/N: THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS. I ALWAYS LOVE THEM ESPECIALLY THE REALLY LONG ONES.  
  
NICOLE: HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THE IDEA ABOUT THE LITTLE GIRL BEING A PART OF CORDELIA THAT WILL HELP HER WAKE UP AND BECOME A GUARDIAN? YOUR GUESS IS PRETTY CLOSE AS TO WHO AND WHAT SHE IS BUT NOT ENTIRELY.  
  
HERE'S CHAPTER SEVEN. HOPE YOU LIKE IT.  
  
ENJOY. AND DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW.  
  


  
~*~  
  


  
Angel sighed when he returned to his office and Spike was still there. The other man didn't look up but Angel was sure that he had heard him.  
  
Shoving his hands into his pockets, Angel walked over to the overly large window where Spike was standing. "I'm assuming it didn't go well."  
  
Spike sneered at him. "You're damn right it didn't go well."  
  
"Sorry to hear that."  
  
"Sure you are." Spike said skeptically.  
  
"Don't start with me. Buffy already gave me the lecture, Spike. I'm not going to hear it from you as well." Angel said before it could lead to another lecture session for him.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Why what?" Angel asked.  
  
"Why didn't you tell me that Buffy was coming?" The blonde clarified.  
  
Angel shrugged as he let out a breath. "I don't know. I thought maybe it was time that she knew."  
  
Spike scoffed. "Who died and made you king?"  
  
Angel was prepared to give a nasty little remark when his judgment got the better of him. "Look, Spike, I did both of you a favor. You can now stop pretending that she doesn't matter anymore because you're human and Buffy can finally stop believing a lie. You didn't think that you could hide from her forever, did you?"  
  
"I wasn't hiding."  
  
Angel smirked. "_Sure_ you weren't."  
  
They fell into silence and both of them stood there, staring at the city below them. Spike spoke again.  
  
"Why didn't you warn me? I could have left before she arrived." Spike asked, repeating his previous question. "I thought you'd be the first person to want to keep us apart."  
  
Angel look offended. "I love her."  
  
"And?"  
  
"She wants you. Isn't that enough?" Angel replied softly.  
  
"No." Spike answered.  
  
It was strange how they were talking; actually having a _civilized_ conversation instead of beating each other senseless until one of them was either dust or unconscious.  
  
They had lived centuries of hating each other, at least Spike did. He had loathed Angelus throughout his undead life.  
  
But fate, despite their reluctance to believe in it, brought them together yet again and this time, not as enemies.  
  
They weren't friends, not even in the least and neither of them could see each other as friends. But there was a truce and they both knew it.  
  
Granted, there were still some bitter blood between them but being able to endure a few minutes together in the same room was progress.  
  
It was more progress than they've had over the centuries.  
  
"So you're just going to hate her for the rest of your life?" Angel asked.  
  
Spike shrugged. "I didn't say that."  
  
"You don't have a lot of time, Spike. You're human now. That means _you_ have an _expiration_ _date_." Angel continued.  
  
The blonde vampire didn't like the sound of that at all.  "It's none of your business."  He uttered in a clipped tone.  
  
"Yeah but I'm butting in." Angel retorted with a smirk. "Listen, I don't understand the attraction that Buffy has to you and maybe I'm not supposed to but don't be a fool. Don't waste it because of a grudge."  
  
"So now you're a love guru as well?" Spike asked; a hint of amusement and sarcasm in his voice.  
  
"If you miss out on this chance, you'll regret it." Angel warned him.  
  
Spike glanced at his grandsire curiously. "Did you?"  
  
A sad expression past Angel's face but it was fleeting. "Once, I did. But it wasn't meant to last forever."  
  
"And now you don't regret it as much because your heart has found another." Spike stated knowingly.  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"Your Seer. You love her." Spike declared. "You visit her every chance you get. You sit by her side and talk to her for as long as possible until one of the people watching her has to shoo you out of the room. You make sure she's comfortable and that she's taken care of. I've been doing my homework and I'm not blind, Angel. All that attention you give to sleeping beauty isn't because you're _friends_. You love her. You're whipped." Spike laughed but Angel didn't look amused.  
  
"I am not _whipped_." Angel argued.  
  
"You'd give her the moon if she asked for it and no matter how wrong she is you'd forgive her." Spike declared.    
  
"Are we still talking about me here?" Angel asked, shooting him a meaningful look.  
  
"How did she fall into a coma anyway?" Spike asked curiously.  
  
Angel searched his mind for an explanation. He and Lilah never came up with one. He opened his mouth to answer when a knock interrupted them and Lilah came in.  
  
"Sorry to break the bonding boys, but there's an incident at the infirmary." Lilah declared and Angel and Spike were already across and out the room before she could say another word.  
  
"What's going on?" Spike asked as they reached the elevator.  
  
"There's a high demon activity in the infirmary and so far it's unexplained.  No one has reported in what's causing it." Lilah explained.  
  
"What's with the alarm? This building is swarming with demons. What makes this one different?" Angel asked.  
  
"This one is emitting a high amount unknown power."  
  
"And?"  
  
"It means that this creature is new, powerful and dangerous. Wolfram and Hart's database registers every known demon and creature there is. This alarm only goes off when it detects something that is unidentified." Lilah continued. "It's also a signal telling our weapons and protection division to send in some troops."  
  
The elevator doors opened and they were met by Wesley, who was clutching a gigantic book in his arms, trying to tell Angel something and by Gunn who had a large gun in his arms.  
  
"Not now, Wes." Angel said. "Is that necessary?" He asked turning to Gunn.  
  
"Afraid so." Gunn replied.  
  
"Angel, this is important." Wesley pressed.  
  
"English, step aside, you are _not_ helping the situation." Gunn said rather rudely but Wes ignored him. "Angel, they're in the same room as Buffy and Dawn."  
  


  
************************************************************************  
  


  
Buffy was rooted on the ground as she watched in sheer terror at what was happening to her little sister.  She had just gotten off the phone with Willow who didn't have any good news for her at all when she heard the alarm and she knew that Dawn was in danger.  
  
When she reached the infirmary, everyone was already on one side of the room.  
  
Fred and the rest of her science team where all huddled to one corner, except for the surprising look of mild interest on their faces, they barely appeared afraid.  
  
Some of the researchers were taking notes, scribbling rapidly while others jutted down configurations into their computers.  
  
On the other side, Dawn remained motionless on the bed while the small child who she had brought with her through the portal laid on her side; the girl's small hands clutching unconscious teenager's.  
  
Connor was a few feet away, looking upset.  _What was going on?  Why wasn't anyone doing anything?_  
  
A green orb of energy and light surrounded the little girl and it grew bigger until it engulfed both herself and Dawn.  
  
Buffy moved to remove the little girl but the green energy sent shocks, sending the ex slayer across the room.  
  
The child sensed the interruption and snapped her eyes at Buffy, a scowl on her small lips.  
  
She said something in a foreign language; her voice hoarse and almost demonic. The building shook slightly and some of the people in the room gasped in fright.  
  
Another light emerged from within the child and it moved outside the green orb and settled on the floor.  
  
The other light began to grow until it took the form of a demon.  
  
Buffy moved to attack again but Spike, who had arrived with Angel and the rest of the team just shortly after she did, held her back, his grip strong and unrelenting.  
  
Buffy glared at him but he refused to let her go and she was forced to stand back and watch.  
  
"They're going to hurt her!" She said angrily but Spike shook his head.  
  
"I don't think so."  
  
Angel was holding back Gunn who had the urge to shoot.  
  
The demon, which appeared as deadly as the _Beast_ that Angel encountered in the past was at least six feet tall, if not more. Its hard skin appeared burnt by fire and heat while small deathly looking spikes ran across the back of its arms and down its spine. The demon possessed two horns and a long pointed tail.  
  
It looked like the Devil itself.  
  
It began to chant, its voice booming in the room as it offered its one hand to the child while it knelt and took Dawn's free limp hand.  
  
The little girl gladly gave her hand fearlessly and in their triangle, the child and the demon began to chant in a language only they understood.  
  
The green light welcomed the demon into its embrace and it grew as their voices rose higher and higher, until the light became overwhelmingly bright and everyone else was forced to shield their eyes.  
  
The light died down and the demon vanished.  
  
The crowd watched as the little girl smiled in satisfaction and bent down to kiss Dawn on the forehead.  
  
Suddenly, the older girl gasped for air as her eyes fought to open.  
  
The child's arms snake around Dawn's neck as she hugged her tightly.  
  
"Welcome home." The little girl whispered but no one understood except for Dawn.  
  


  
~*~  
  


  
A/N: SO TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK OF THIS CHAPTER. DAWN'S BACK WHICH IM RELIEVED BECAUSE I KNEW I COULDN'T PUT HER IN A COMA LIKE CORDELIA. AND DON'T WORRY OUR LOVELY SEER HASN'T BEEN FORGOTTEN.  
  
THIS CHAPTER WASN'T ORIGINALLY WRITTEN THIS WAY BUT THEN I REMEMBERED THAT SOME OF YOU WANTED SOME SPIKE AND ANGEL INTERACTON SO THERE IT IS.  
  
SO BASICALLY, THIS CHAPTER WAS WRITTEN TO:  
  
GET SOME ANGEL PERSPECTIVE ABOUT SPIKE AND BUFFY'S NON-RELATIONSHIP.  
  
TO GET SOMEONE TO MENTION CORDELIA AND ANGEL'S FEELINGS FOR HER.  
  
TO GET DAWN TO WAKE UP. THERE WILL BE EXPLANTIONS AS TO HOW THE LITTLE MAGIC STUFF WORKED.  
  
TO INTRODUCE THE "DEMON." HE'LL PLAY A PART IN LATER CHAPTERS.  
  
TO PREPARE YOU FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER, HERE'S A FEW HINTS THAT I WROTE IN THIS CHAPTER:  
  
WILLOW'S BAD NEWS FROM THE PHONE CALL WITH BUFFY. (I DIDN'T JUST MENTION HER IN THIS CHAPTER FOR ANY REASON.)  
  
WESLEY'S DISCOVERY  
  
GUNN'S GUNS  
  
THE CHILD, DAWN AND THE DEMON. (THERE'S A WHOLE MEANING FOR THE THREE OF THEM)  
  
THE GREEN LIGHT.  
  
THE STRANGE LANGUAGE  
  
OH AND IN CASE YOU GUYS ARE WONDERING WHY I ALWAYS MENTION LILAH IN EACH CHAPTER, THERE IS A REASON FOR HER TO BE THERE. SHE WILL SERVE HER PURPOSE WHEN THE TIME COMES.  
  
WELL COME ON, GIVE ME SOME REVIEWS BECAUSE THIS CHAPTER BARELY MENTIONS SPUFFY MOMENTS AND I WANT TO GIVE YOU MORE SPUFFY MOMENTS.  
  
THANKS FOR READING.


	8. Revelations

A/N: THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS. HERE'S ANOTHER CHAPTER. ENJOY.  
  


  
~*~  
  


  
They moved like slow motioned characters in movies. Each step, each move slower than normal pace. Their voices blurred in the thickness of the atmosphere and all Dawn could hear was the echo of their words.  
  
Buffy was sitting in front of her whose image and voice was distorted by the brightness and thickness of the room.  
  
All Dawn saw were the outlines of those around her and their distant faded voices.

  
It felt surreal, as if she was in some dream. This wasn't how she remembered home. Everything wasn't white and sterile and people didn't come out as gray outlines.  
  
Dawn turned her head to the little girl beside her, a questioning look on her face.  
  
The child nodded without doubt. She was the only person Dawn could see clearly.  
  
"Dawn?" Buffy's concerned voice finally pierced through the thickness of the atmosphere.  
  
Dawn turned her head back to her sister and blinked as if trying to adjust her eyes to the room. No change.  
  
"Dawn?" Buffy said again, her voice heightening as anticipation grew.  
  
"Are you real?"  
  
Buffy looked surprised, Dawn could tell even with the lack of clarity in her vision. "Of course. What's wrong?" Buffy replied, her voice softening.  
  
The brunette said nothing but she looked up when she finally noticed that someone was standing behind Buffy.  
  
Blinking, trying desperately to see clearly, Dawn stared at the figure. She could sense something shift in the room.  
  
_Tension_. Everyone was nervous. More nervous than they were earlier.  
  
"Dawn, tell me what's wrong." Buffy pressed, her hand now clutching Dawn's.  She winced from the contact.  She didn't like being touched.  
  
"It's bright." With that reply, there was shuffling and the room suddenly dimmed and Dawn blinked again.  
  
Better.  
  
Her gaze settled on Buffy's face. She looked the same and Dawn turned to the little girl again.  
  
The child smiled at her and a sense of calm settled on Dawn.  
  
"You're crying." Dawn croaked as her aching fingers touched the tears on Buffy's face.  
  
"I was so worried." Buffy whispered but she didn't move to hug her sister.  She didn't want to inflict Dawn any more pain but abruptly hugging her.

   
Suddenly the calm was gone and Dawn felt a rush of emotions overwhelm her. "You waited. All this time, you waited for me."  
  
Confusion appeared on Buffy's face. "Why would I stop waiting?" She asked, puzzled.

     
"I'm sorry."  
  
"I know you are, Dawnie, but it doesn't matter anymore. You're home." Buffy said, caressing Dawn's cheek.  The other girl visibly winced again.    
  
"But I'm sorry for what's going to happen." Dawn clarified, looking guilty.  
  
Buffy frowned at her. "What do you mean?"  
  
"More will be coming."  
  
"More what, Dawn? What do you mean?"  
  
"I let loose an army of demons."  
  
"What?" Buffy gasped.  
  
"Bloody hell." Someone muttered and Dawn suddenly remembered that there was someone behind Buffy. She lifted her head slowly and then she gasped when she saw him.  
  
With trembling legs she stood up, her eyes filled with tears. And then she walked up to him and wrapped her small arms around him.  
  
"When I was there, I prayed that you were alive so that Buffy wouldn't be alone. And someone listened." She whispered brokenly as Spike gently hugged her, as if afraid to crush her.  
  
Her words made him feel guilty and Spike cleared his throat uncomfortably. He made no indication of acknowledging Dawn's words or denying them. "It's alright, Bit. No need to cry."  
  
But she cried harder anyway as her arms tightened around him. "I missed you so much. I missed all of you." She whispered.  
  
"Me too."  
  
Spike wished it was Buffy who said those words instead of the younger Summers girl. As much as he loved Dawn, he couldn't help but want Buffy instead to be in his arms and saying _those_ words.  
  
The words were so little and to many people they meant just as less but to Spike it was enough to make him happy. Just because someone cared enough to miss him.  
  
Buffy watched the scene between her baby sister, who didn't seem so little anymore and Spike who she had loved all along but denied it anyway.  
  
She couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy.  
  
Spike released Dawn from his embrace and helped her back down on the seat so that she would be facing Buffy again, who seemed left out for a moment.  
  
Spike cleared his throat. "You girls need to catch up. I'll be around." He refrained from looking at Buffy who was watching him from the corner of her eyes.  
  
Dawn nodded tiredly, noticing the discomfort between Spike and Buffy.  
  
"We should tell Angel what you just told me." Buffy declared.  
  
Dawn frowned slightly. Even in her weakened and confused state, she knew that something was off. "Why?" She asked softly.  
  
Buffy twitched her lips slightly. "I know you're a little confused, Dawn, but this place is Angel's. These people work for him and well, it's their job to do some investigating and demon killing. Don't you remember? I told you this in the beginning."  
  
"That was ages ago." Dawn moved her gaze to the other people around them, who she hadn't really paid attention to earlier. Even in the dim room they were working diligently and some of them were just standing, watching Buffy and Dawn and scribbling down notes.  
  
In the far corner, Dawn saw Angel. He was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed in front of him, a serious look on his face.  
  
She noted he looked professional and somehow, seeing him brought past memories of mafia movies. Dawn smiled slightly at his direction, although the sad look in her eyes never faded.  
  
Dawn noticed Angel was surrounded by a group of people who she didn't recognize except for Wesley who was perched on a stool with a small reading lamp beside him, engrossed on a book.  
  
Her gaze lingered on the man with the gun and Dawn frowned slightly.  
  
"I almost forgot about Angel." Dawn finally spoke again as she turned to Buffy. "I haven't seen him in so long.  So long.  Everything's so different."  
  
"Not really." Buffy replied. "Well, maybe except for Angel going all out on the investigating thing." She smiled a little. Buffy had the urge to mention Spike's new _humanity_ but she didn't.  
  
Now wasn't the time.  
  
"There's something else you should know."  
  
"Dawnie, it can wait. Get some sleep and then we'll talk again." Buffy urged but Dawn's hand was suddenly on Buffy's wrist, her grip almost frightening tight.  
  
"No, it _can't_." Dawn insisted, her voice hard with determination. "You need to know."  
  
"Okay but you're resting after."  
  
Dawn nodded absently as her gaze went to the little girl who had found her way to Connor's lap again. Her lips curved into a thin solemn smile as she watched the little girl sit peacefully with the young teenage boy who seemed just as content. "I named her Chayse Elizabeth Summers."  
  
Buffy sat in confused silence as she tried to make sense of what Dawn was saying.  
  
"I was afraid that she would become what they intended her to be. And a part of me still is but I know that there is some good in her because she's a part of me and I am a part of you. And you're made of pure goodness."  
  
"Dawnie, you're not making any sense."  
  
Dawn sniffled and let out a heavy sigh. "Chayse is mine, Buffy. She's _mine_ and they were going to take her away. They gave her to me just to take her away."  
  
"Dawn, it's alright. No one's going to take her from you."  
  
"You're not _listening_!" Dawn said impatiently, her voice shrill. "You're not getting it."  
  
"Dawn, please-"  
  
"No, listen! _Listen_.  This is important." Dawn hissed, her eyes flashing with something dark and dangerous. "Chayse is my daughter. She is made from _my_ flesh and blood."  
  
She settled back down on her seat as she watched Buffy's shocked expression. Dawn wanted to apologize but she knew that she would do more damage if she did. There was no point for apologies and Dawn knew that she wasn't sorry.  
  
Her expression held no guilt but there was sadness in her eyes as she continued to watch Buffy.  
  
"I'm sorry." Buffy whispered as she let out an exasperated sigh. "Get some rest, Dawnie. Chayse should too." She watched the little girl on Connor's lap and finally Buffy saw a younger version of Dawn.  
  
Well, at least Chayse resembled the child that Buffy saw in the false memories that monks created for Dawn's childhood.  
  
Dawn nodded silently. She hadn't anticipated this kind of reaction from Buffy. She was expecting an outburst, maybe some tears but Buffy was completely placid, her eyes slightly distant.  
  
"Ok." Dawn replied.  
  
"She's very beautiful, like you." Buffy declared. "I'm going to tell Angel and everyone else what's going on. They look about to burst from the suspense. I'll check on you in a while." She offered Dawn a small smile as she hugged her again. "Good to have you back."  
  
Dawn watched as Buffy exited the room, Angel and company in tow. She suspected that they already knew what she was going to say but Buffy was just using them as an excuse to leave.  
  
She took a quick glance at Chayse who was still with the boy whose name or affiliation Dawn didn't know.  
  
But it didn't matter. At least not that very moment.  
  
She didn't move to introduce herself to the teenager. She laid back on the bed to rest, like Buffy suggested and closed her eyes, hoping that she had enough energy and will for what was to come.  
  


  
************************************************************************  
  


  
"Buffy, are you alright?" Angel asked worriedly as the door closed behind them and they were finally out of earshot.  
  
Wesley, Fred, Lilah, and Gunn who had followed them into the hallway also waited for her answers. Their expressions were a mixture of curiosity, shock and disbelief. And they waited for her to confirm what they just heard.  
  
"Something's very wrong with her. She _thinks_ the little girl is her daughter." Buffy confided. "And I believe her. But how is it possible? Dawn is barely seventeen and Chayse-"  
  
"Chayse?" Gunn interrupted.  Angel shifted uncomfortably, wondering what her connection to Cordelia Chayse was.    
  
"That's her name." Buffy clarified. "But she looks four."  
  
"Since Dawn is the Key is essentially timeless, there is a possibility that wherever she was, time did not affect her physical form." Wesley explained.  
  
"Or the child's growth could have been accelerated by some sort of magic." Fred added.  
  
"Right."  
  
"Buffy, did Dawn say anything about an oncoming war, maybe an apocalypse?" Wesley asked.  
  
"She said that she let army of demons loose."  
  
"Why and how?" Gunn asked incredulously.  
  
"She didn't say." Buffy replied absently as she wrapped her arms around her body as if cold.  
  
"_The tempest will rise and the Guardian will walk the earth. The joining will be created and the nameless will be sheltered. An army shall emerge from the pit of doom and chaos will begin_." Wesley read from the book he had been holding on to for quite some time now. "There's more but I haven't deciphered them yet."  
  
"How do you even know you're remotely right about anything?" Gunn asked indignantly. "The language is three thousand years old and what does what you read have anything to do with Buffy's sister?"  
  
"The language is only _one_ thousand years old and-"  
  
"Like it makes a difference." Gunn shot back.  
  
"And this has everything to do with Dawn." Wesley pressed; his expression cool and held back as he met Gunn's cold criticism.  
  
Buffy watched him with slight pride and admiration. Wesley finally grew a backbone and got contacts. She smiled slightly despite the bickering.  
  
Angel cleared his throat. "Guys." He said. He had kept his silence long enough.  
  
"I'm going to figure out what this whole thing means. It might be of some great help to discovering what happened to Dawn. And the child as well." Wesley redirected his attention to Buffy who was nodding silently.  
  
"Wes, why don't you and Fred work on this together? You two might find what this is all about quicker if you mix science and magic." Angel suggested solemnly.  
  
Wesley and Fred nodded quietly as they returned to the science lab. "And Buffy, there's a chance Dawn might be _the guardian_." Wesley warned her just as the door shut close.  
  
"Gunn, I want you and some men around the sight where the portal opened. Look inconspicuous." Angel declared.  
  
"On it already." Gunn nodded as he readjusted the gun in his arms and walked away.  
  
"Lilah-"  
  
She held up a folded in her hands. Angel knew exactly what was in it.  
  
"Buffy, I'll see you in a minute. I have some paperwork to deal with." Angel declared and Buffy hesitantly returned to the other room.  
  
Once she was out of earshot, Angel took the paper from Lilah who was looking mighty pleased and amused. "We just got it in. It's not a hundred percent but who's perfect anyway?"  
  
Angel flipped the pages in the folder. "Are you sure about this?"  
  
Lilah crossed her arms in front of her and shrugged. "Like I said, it's not a hundred percent but it's close enough."  
  
"Chayse can help Cordelia wake up. This is amazing." Angel whispered.  
  
"Well, we could have figured it out by just witnessing what happened in there." Lilah declared casually. "The child's power is overwhelming. Our mystics say that's she made of old energy. They don't exactly know what she is. But since she's the Key's child, it's understandable."  
  
"What's the catch?"  
  
"The problem is we don't know how to get her to wake up Cordelia. And then there's the third element."  
  
"Third element?"  
  
"The demon that appeared during the Dawn's remedial. No one knows how and why it appeared and it might be a problem if we try the same procedure with Cordelia." Lilah explained.  
  
"Have a dozen researchers and mystics on it, already. I don't want things to get more wrong than they already are. And send Lorne up here as soon as possible. I want him to get a reading of the child." Angel declared firmly.  
  
"Right, boss." Lilah smiled as she moved to leave him.  
  
Angel nodded absently.  
  
Soon, Cordelia was going to be cured and he wondered whether that was a good idea. She could open a whole Pandora's Box and cause more chaos than they could handle.  
  
Sighing, Angel brushed the thought of and focused instead in getting back his Seer.  
  


  
~*~  
  


  
A/N: I KNOW. I SUCK. I PROMISED SPUFFY MOMENTS AND THERE'S BARELY ANY IN THIS CHAPTER. SORRY GUYS. I JUST WANTED TO GET SOME DAWN MOMENTS INTO THERE AND TO MAKE THE MYSTERY MORE CONFUSING. ANYWAY, HOPED YOU LIKED IT.  
  
IM DEFINITELY PUTTING MAJOR SPUFFY MOMENTS IN THE NEXT CHAPTERS. I FEEL LIKE IM DEPRIVING YOU GUYS.  
  
ANYWAY, REVIEW ALREADY. ILL THINK OF IT AS A GRAD PRESENT FROM ALL YOU NICE PEOPLE. THAT'S RIGHT I'M GRADUATING AND I WAS NICE ENOUGH TO UPDATE TODAY.  
  
DON'T WORRY, I'M NOT GIVING YOU GUYS THE GUILT TRIP.  
  
ANYWAY, BACK TO THE BUFFY UNIVERSE. NICOLE, I'M SURE YOU'RE ALREADY MORE CONFUSED WITH THE MYSTERY THAT IS THIS STORY. GOOD LUCK TRYING TO FIGURE STUFF OUT. HEHEHE.  
  
THANKS FOR READING GUYS.


	9. Talking

A/N: THANKS TO THE TWO NICE PEOPLE WHO REVIEWED LAST CHAPTER. HERE'S THE NEXT ONE. TOOK ME A WHILE BUT HEY, IM UPDATING NOW.  
  
OH AND MICHELLE, I THINK THAT YOU READ THE WRONG UPDATE FOR THE LAST CHAPTER. YOU MIGHT WANT TO REREAD THAT BECAUSE THIS CHAPTER PROBABLY WONT MAKE SENSE TO YOU.  
  
SORRY FOR THE SCREW UP.  
  
ENJOY.  
  


  
~*~  
  


  
Angel walked back into the room, looking somewhat preoccupied as he slipped his hands into his pockets. His gaze went instantly to Connor and Chayse who were still sitting together.  
  
The little girl seemed to be whispering and Connor looked far from understanding.  
  
Sighing, Angel walked towards them. This was after all his chance to talk to his son, although only he knew that.  
  
"Hey." He said as he pulled a chair up next to Connor and Chayse.  
  
Connor nodded at him politely, shifted in his seat to get more comfortable and mumbled a, "Hi."  
  
"We haven't been introduced. I'm Angel." He said extending his hand. Connor shook it firmly.  
  
"Connor." He replied. "So, you own this place. Pretty cool. I never knew lawyers were into magic and all that crazy stuff." Connor declared as his eyes scanned the rather busy room. He knew Angel was the _big man_. Everyone looked at him for answers and instructions. He ran the place like a king and the Lilah woman as his right hand.  
  
Angel nodded. "I'm more like a private investigator. But, yeah cool."  
  
Meanwhile, Chayse was staring up at him with interest, her small hands holding onto Connor's shirt possessively.  
  
"This is Chayse, by the way, but I bet you already knew that." Connor introduced them and Chayse edged further away from Angel, her eyes never leaving him.  
  
Angel shrugged it off, although he was slightly insulted that the child had attached herself to Connor but seems to dislike him. He was after all Connor's father. Why should Chayse not like him?  
  
The little girl titled her head at Angel, stared at his chest and frowned. "You don't sparkle." She said, looking up at him with large, innocent eyes.  
  
Angel looked taken aback and so did Connor. "You can talk." Connor whispered and Chayse nodded as she slipped off his lap. She hurriedly ran over Dawn, startling Buffy who had returned to her sister's side.  
  
Chayse climbed up on Dawn's bed and began shaking her. "Momma, wake up." She whispered.  
  
Buffy looked alarmed as she tried to pry the little girl from her sister. Chayse sent her a warning glare.  
  
Everyone in the room stopped whatever it was they were doing to look at Chayse.  
  
"Is she okay?" Fred asked Wesley as they looked up from their research. Wesley frowned slightly.  
  
"It doesn't appear like she is." Wesley replied.  
  
"Momma, time to wake up!" Chayse said as she continued to shake Dawn. The youngest Summers girl jolted awake.  
  
"What's wrong?" Dawn asked as she sat up hastily.  
  
"The big man doesn't sparkle, Momma. Everybody sparkles and glows but _him_." She whispered as she quickly glanced at Angel, her large eyes accusing. "And he smells funny."  
  
Dawn frowned, glancing at Angel and chuckled suddenly as her arm went around her little daughter. "That's because he's not human, Chayse. He's a vampire. Remember what I taught you?" She asked in utter seriousness while the whole room watched and listened.  
  
Chayse nodded as she deliberated Dawn's words. "But he's a _demon_.  Demon.  Demon.  Demon."  
  
Angel flinched at the words. Connor had called him exactly the same not to long ago.  
  
"Not all demons are evil, Chayse." Dawn replied firmly. "There are good ones and in this dimension, there are as many good ones as there are evil."  
  
"But the Elders-"  
  
"Were different. They were evil." Dawn continued, her expression darkening at the mention of the Elders. "They hurt us."  
  
Chayse nodded and although she wasn't thoroughly convinced she dropped the subject, kissed Dawn and walked back to Connor. "Can I keep him then?" She asked as she reached up and took Connor's hand.  
  
Connor looked flattered and amused at the same time while Angel looked somewhere in between shock and curiosity.  
  
Buffy remained quietly, suddenly feeling too tired.  
  
Fred smiled from where she was sitting, thinking how adorable the little magical child was and Wesley chuckled slightly, finding it just as endearing.  
  
"No, you can't keep him. He's not a pet." Dawn replied, trying to be as serious as possible.  
  
Chayse pouted petulantly and she opened her mouth to beg but Dawn was shaking her head already. The little girl glanced at Buffy, as if willing the oldest Summers woman to side with her.  
  
Buffy shrugged, glad that at least her _niece_ was asking her for back up. "Once you're all recuperated, we'll buy you a bunny." Buffy declared unsurely.  
  
"Okay." Chayse relented. "What's a bunny?" She asked Connor who went on to explain.  
  
"Are you okay?" Buffy asked Dawn, pulling her hair back behind her ear.  
  
Dawn nodded with a sighed. "Good. I still feel groggy. Nothing seems real. At least I can see and hear clearly now." She replied.  
  
"Good. Do you need anything?" Buffy asked softly.  
  
"Maybe food. I haven't eaten Earth food in years." Dawn mumbled and Buffy frowned slightly.  
  
_Earth food?_"You make it sound like you were on mars or something." She whispered.  
  
Dawn shrugged. "I might as well have been, except everything was dark and reddish and very loud. That's why I'm having trouble seeing and hearing. It's so bright here. I almost forgot." She sighed again as she ran her fingers through her hair. "I need a shower." Dawn made a face and Buffy smiled.  
  
At least some signs of her little sister were showing up.  
  
"I'm going to have the front desk order some food. Want anything special?" Buffy asked, wondering exactly what dawn ate during her time in the other dimension.  
  
"Doesn't matter." Dawn mumbled.  
  
"Alright. I'll order Chinese. You always loved that stuff." She replied.  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"I'm going to Angel's office. I need to make a phone call. Giles must be worried sick by now since he hasn't been updated." Buffy excused herself.  
  
"Hey, Angel. You're looking broody." Dawn said when she noticed him. Angel lips stretched into what one could consider as almost a smile.  
  
"Glad to have you back, Dawn. Buffy was worried to death about. We all were." Angel declared casually.  
  
"Let's just count her lucky that she wasn't where I was." She retorted, sounding somewhat annoyed that Buffy's well being was considered before her own. 

_Dawn_ was the one who spent five years in a hell dimension. _Five agonizing years._  _She_ was the one who was _tortured_. _She_ was the one who was _forced_ to have a magical child. Reminding herself how much she loved Chayse, despite the circumstances of how the little girl was created, Dawn sighed sharply. "So, Spike is human now." She declared, changing topics.  
  
"Yeah." Angel muttered uncomfortably. "How did you find out?" He asked. He hadn't heard anyone tell her about what had happened to Spike.  
  
"He smells human." She replied as she glanced at Chayse's direction. The little girl and Connor seemed to be having a conversation.  
  
Angel raised an eyebrow. "He _smells_ human?"  
  
"Yeah. I can smell humans apart from demons. My senses got out of whack when I was carrying Chayse." She explained.  
  
"_Oh_. Dawn, I know that you've just gotten back from hell but we need every information we can get about what happened to you and the origin of Chayse. She's made of pure magic. She could help us awaken Cordelia." Angel dared. He knew it would be simpler to lay the truth out than trick her into helping them.  
  
There was no need to infuriate two magical creatures who had unlimited and great power.  
  
"Only if you let us leave. I don't want to stay here, Angel. I feel _imprisoned_." Dawn replied as she hopped off the bed. "I just got back from hell. In my time, it's been five years. I need freedom."  
  
_Five years?  _Thevampire looked startled with the concept.  "I understand. You can stay at the Hyperion for as long as you want."  
  
She smiled at him. "You're a good person, Angel. Be careful with the power that you've been given." She said as she walked past him to retrieve Chayse.  
  
Angel nodded, sinking her words into his mind and wondering _exactly_ how much she knew.  
  


  
************************************************************************  
  


  
Buffy pushed the door to Angel's office open and she stepped inside to find Spike sitting behind the desk, a scotch in hand.  
  
"Sorry. I came to use the phone." She curtly said and Spike gestured towards it.  
  
"Feel free." He said as he rose from his seat to leave her.  
  
"Spike?" Buffy called before he was entirely out of the room.  
  
He glanced back, a somewhat pleased look in his eyes. "Yeah?"  
  
"We have to talk sooner or later."  
  
Spike nodded with a sigh. "When everything cools down." He relented.  
  
"Okay." She whispered and then he left, closing the door to give her some privacy.  
  
Buffy smiled slightly as she walked around Angel's desk, sat down where Spike had been and told the receptionist to order some Chinese food and have it brought up in the hospital wing.  
  
She was somewhat pleased that Spike had walked out on her for the second time but this time not actually glaring, cursing and yelling.  
  
She pressed Giles' number, hoping that Angel wouldn't mind the bills for the phone call.  
  
"Rupert Giles speaking." Came Giles' voice.  
  
"Hi, Giles." She greeted somewhat cheerfully. Things were progressing here in L.A. and Buffy had a feeling it was going to get better.  
  
"Buffy, I haven't heard a word from anyone. Are you alright?" He asked and Buffy could almost see him frowning while cleaning his glasses.  
  
"I'm as good as I can be. Dawn's awake but I need you to come to L.A. Willow too." She replied as she absently tapped a pen against Angel's desk.  
  
"I was packing to go there. What's the matter?" He asked worriedly.  
  
"Dawn has a daughter." Buffy announced hesitantly, her forehead creasing into a frown.  
  
"Oh dear." There was a long pause on Giles' end and Buffy had to wonder if he was still there. "My flight is in two hours. I'll be there are soon as possible."  
  
"Okay, I'm calling Willow."  
  
"Good. And Buffy?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"I'm bringing someone with me." He declared grimly and Buffy had a horrible feeling but she decided not to dwell on it, said goodbye to Giles and called Willow.  
  
************************************************************************  
  
The move to the Hyperion had gone relatively smooth. Buffy was pleased that Angel actually offered to let them stay there rather than have them stay in another hotel where they had to pay for their room.  
  
Spike had gone along with them, in case Dawn was too tired to walk.  
  
Chayse and Connor went as well, since the little girl had to be where her mother was and had decided that she _definitely_ was going to keep Connor.  
  
The teenager didn't seem to mind at all.  
  
Spike and Buffy on the other hand had to remind her and the teenager that Connor was free to go when he needed or wanted to leave.  
  
Lorne who was just on his way to Wolfram and Hart was glad that they had gotten to the Hyperion before he could leave. Sometimes, traveling was a hassle because people were too damn curious about why he was green and why he had horns.  
  
As usual, he would explain that it was a costume and he was entertainment for a kid's party. The excuse often worked.  
  
Grinning he walked over to meet the new houseguests. "So, this is our little princess?" He asked out loud as greeted Chayse who seemed hesitant to come close to him. "Do worry, kiddo, I don't eat little children." He joked.  
  
"Lorne, I'd be careful what you say. She's pretty powerful." Spike whispered as he briskly walked past him.  
  
Lorne nodded, still smiling. "Hey little princess, what's your name?"  
  
Chayse glanced at Dawn who was already climbing up the stairs with Buffy. Dawn gave her an ok. "Chayse." She replied as she clung closer to Connor.  
  
"Pretty name. Welcome to the Hyperion, Chayse. I'm Lorne." He said as he extended his hand to shake her small ones.  
  
Chayse was unsure of the gesture, so instead she nodded. "You don't sparkle.  Like Angel." She told him. "Momma's waiting Connor, let's go." She said as she ushered him up the stairs.  
  
For someone who was new to this dimension, she seemed relatively fine and well at ease.  
  
"What did she mean by _I don't sparkle_?" Lorne asked Spike was now leaning against the front desk.  
  
"I don't know." Spike shrugged.  
  
"Strange kid." Lorne declared, twitching his lips slightly.  
  
Spike scoffed and let the comment slide.  
  


  
************************************************************************  
  


  
Buffy sighed the minute she reached the bottom steps. She was exhausted. Every part of her body ached. She glanced at where Spike and Lorne were talking and decided to join them.  
  
"Am I interrupting something?" She asked and Lorne made a face to tell her that she was being ridiculous.  
  
"I'll let you two lovebirds alone. Maybe I'll go check on the kids." He grinned and in an instant he was walking up the stairs and disappearing to the second floor.  
  
"So, how's Dawn?" Spike asked when an uncomfortable silence fell between them.  
  
"She's in the shower. Said something about her hair being gross." Buffy replied with a soft chuckle. "We had to tell Chayse that boys weren't allowed to go into shower with girls. And then we had to explain what boys and girls were."  
  
"She's really attached to that kid. I don't understand why." Spike mused.  
  
Buffy shrugged. "Maybe because she was his first contact in this dimension."  
  
"Maybe so. How are you holding up?" He asked as he wondered if she got thinner within the last couple days.  
  
Buffy sighed sharply. "I'm just glad she's home."  
  
Spike frowned. "Thanks but that's not a good answer. You look _awful_."  
  
She glared at him slightly. "That's for the ego boost." She drawled.  
  
"When was the last time you slept?" He continued.  
  
Buffy frowned, pouting slightly as she tried to recall when she last slept. "That's not the point. Why do you even care?"  
  
Spike groaned. "Here we go again." He mumbled.  
  
"I heard that." She snapped at him as she scowled.  
  
"Are we going to stop arguing? Tell me now so I can leave." He declared icily.  
  
"You're the one who started it!" She replied, her voice rising higher as she became more agitated.  
  
Spike scoffed, rolled his eyes and threw his hands in the air. "Are we in kindergarten again?"  
  
"You never went to kindergarten, Spike." She replied knowingly as she continued to glare at him.  
  
"Yes, I did. It wasn't called kindergarten then. Oh, bloody hell! You're insane!" He exclaimed in exasperation. "I give up. There's no point in making an effort to talk to you. Why do you always have to be right?" He asked.  
  
"Because you're wrong." She replied assuredly, folding her arms in front of her.  
  
"Great intellectual answer." Spike drawled sarcastically. "I'm leaving."  
  
"You know, you can't walk away every time I'm in the room." She said feeling somewhat hurt.  
  
"Buffy, I really don't understand you. You say we have to talk but when we get the chance, all you want to do is argue." Spike said, his expression softening. As much as he wanted to sort things out with Buffy, he wasn't about to go through a series of yelling fests with her just to actually get to the point where they talk like civil human beings. "Pet, make up your mind."  
  
"Tell me why you kept your return a secret." She said.  
  
"We've been through this." He replied. "Next question."  
  
She frowned and thought of what to ask next. "Before you came back, where were you?"  
  
Spike's gaze grew distant. "I wasn't anywhere." He answered softly. "It was like falling asleep for a long time and then finding myself here in L.A. I guess the blokes up there-" He glanced upwards. "Decided I had some unfinished business."  
  
"Why did you-"  
  
"It's my turn." He interrupted.  
  
She looked at him questioning. "No one said you could ask me questions just because I'm asking you some."  
  
Spike muttered something and chuckled lowly. Sometimes he wondered if Buffy ever acted difficult just to deliberately drive him off the edge. "I get to ask you questions as well and if not, don't bother sticking around for my answers."  
  
Buffy groaned. "Fine." She grudgingly relented.  
  
"After the Apocalypse, what happened to everyone?" He asked.  
  
"Anya died." She sounded sad as she said it. "A lot of the potentials too. After that we all kind of traveled around on a school bus until we reached L.A. Angel helped us out. Dawn and I moved to Florida. Faith, Wood, Xander and Jonathan and also a couple potentials went to Cleveland."  
  
"Cleveland?"  
  
"Another hellmouth." She drawled.  
  
"Great."  
  
"Then Giles went back to England. Willow spent a month with him there to work on her new magic. She went back to Cleveland but now she's in Florida on the way here."  
  
It seemed confusing as Spike thought about all the move that they had to make ever since the supposedly end of the world came and went.  
  
"I'm sorry about Anya." He said. He was going to miss the ex vengeance demon.  
  
Buffy nodded. "Me too."  
  
Another uncomfortable silence fell between them. Buffy cleared her throat. "I'm glad you're back."  
  
"Good." He grinned. "Because I plan on sticking around."  
  
She smiled, thankful that the tension had faded away. "Hey Spike, want to spar?" She asked curiously. Buffy needed to release her tension and what better way to do so than strenuous physical activity. She also was curious about how strong Spike was now that he was human.  
  
And Buffy was in no way going to suggest sex since it came second in her options.  
  
He raised an eyebrow. "You couldn't wait to get your hands on me, couldn't you, love?" He teased as if knowing what the other option was and she sent him a warning glare.  
  
"I was just-" She began to protest but he interrupted.  
  
"Go take a shower. Then we'll spar. I want to kick your ass when you smell good." He grinned even wider. He knew full well that he was pushing her buttons.  
  
"I hate you." Buffy said through gritted teeth as she stomped to her room.  
  
"Just hurry up so I can beat your ass." Spike called, laughing her annoyance.  
  
He heard her groan angrily, and punch something. "You wish!" She yelled back, although Spike could tell that she was amused despite her efforts to hide it.  
  
He grinned to himself.  
  
It was definitely good to be back.  
  


  
~*~  
  


  
A/N: THERE YOU GO. IT WASN'T THE MUSHY MAKE UP SESSION THAT YOU GUYS WANTED TO HAVE SPIKE AND BUFFY BUT IN MY OPINION THEY WON'T BE ALL MUSHY ANYWAY. I PROMISE TO HAVE MORE FLUFFLY MOMENTS LATER.  
  
I JUST HAD TO SET THE FOUNDATION ON THE RECCUPERATION OF THEIR RELATIONSHIP. HEHE. I JUST USED BIG WORDS.  
  
ANYWAY, THANKS FOR READING AND REVIEW PLEASE!!!!


	10. Pieces to the Puzzle

A/N: IT TOOK A WHILE TO WRITE THIS. SORRY PEEPS. IM _WAY_ BEHIND SCHEDULE BECAUSE FOR THE LIFE OF ME I HAD TO START FICS AROUND THE SAME TIME AS EACH OTHER. NOW, I'M CRAMMED WITH ALL THESE UPDATES. DARN IT. A HUGE WRITER'S BLOCK DIDN'T HELP EITHER. WELL HERE IT IS. FINALLY. I WAS GETTING FRUSTRATED BUT I WASN'T ABOUT GOING TO ABANDON THIS. NO WAY IN HELL.  
  
ANYWAY, REMEMBER THIS PROPHECY:  
  
_"THE TEMPEST WILL ARISE AND THE GUARDIAN WILL WALK THE EARTH. THE JOINING WILL BE CREATED AND THE 'NAMELESS' WILL BE SHELTERED. AN ARMY SHALL EMERGE FROM THE PIT OF DOOM AND THE CHAOS WILL BEGIN."_  
  
ALSO, DON'T FORGET SPIKE'S PROPHECY. IT'S NOT ALL DONE YET EITHER.  
  
A REMINDER: THIS CHAPTER TAKES PLACE A DAY AFTER DAWN RETURNS.  
  
ANYHOO, HOPE YOU LIKE IT.  
  
ENJOY.  
  


  
~*~  
  


  
"_The tempest will arise_." Wesley reread the first line to the passage.  He frowned.  
  
"We know that the tempest is actually the storm that brought Chayse and Dawn here." Fred declared.  
  
"_And the Guardian will walk the Earth_."  
  
Fred creased her forehead into a frown. "It could be Chayse. She's _very_ powerful."  
  
Wesley shook his head. "I have a feeling it's not her. She's the key to this puzzle but what we don't know is why."  
  
"What about Dawn?"  
  
"The Guardian can't be Dawn. She's already the _Key_." Wesley explained.  
  
"Well, then we're back to square one." Fred muttered in frustration as she readjusted her glasses on the bridge of her nose. "We've been going in circles for over five hours, Wes. We're not getting anywhere with this."  
  
"Not entirely. We know that there will be another apocalypse." Wesley pointed out. "The _joining_ could also mean Chayse's birth."  
  
Fred frowned. "But Chayse is already a few years old when she came through a portal. It doesn't fit."  
  
"Right. The joining could symbolize the beginning of her life here on Earth, not exactly her actual birth."  
  
Fred sighed sharply. "We're speculating. Why don't we ask the one person who knows everything?"  
  
"Dawn."  
  


  
************************************************************************  
  


  
"Spike!" Willow Rosenberg's cheerful voice filled the empty Hyperion lobby.  She was beaming from ear to ear as she looked at the blonde.  
  
The ex-vampire looked up from the magazine he was currently occupied with and smiled. "Hey, Red." Spike greeted as he discarded the magazine and stood up to greet her.  
  
Willow easily walked over to him and hugged Spike. "Wow, you're human." She said as she stepped back to watch him.  
  
Spike nodded, slightly amused. "Yes, I know. It's very becoming to be human now. I'm starting a trend." He grinned and Willow playfully jabbed at his shoulder.  "Get a soul, save the world, be human."  
  
"Sorry." She mumbled with a smile.  
  
"You wanted to test out if I felt all human flesh-y?" Spike asked.  
  
Willow nodded. "Sorta." She replied. "I haven't seen you since the-"  
  
"The end of the world?" Spike grinned, recalling the not so long ago incident.  
  
"Uh-huh."  
  
Spike shrugged. "Well, another end of the world is coming and here we are again." He stated. "So how are you?"  
  
"Oh, good. Same old me. And you?" She asked.  
  
"Good too." He answered. "Buffy and the girls are upstairs if you were wondering. I think they're having a slumber party."  
  
Willow smiled at the mention of her friend. "How's Dawnie?" She asked, lowering her tone.  
  
"She's _different_." He replied, cautiously glancing at the second floor.  
  
Willow looked concerned. "How? Is she alright?" She asked.  
  
Spike nodded to reassure her. "You'll just have to see for yourself, Red. I can't really put my finger on it. We all know she's been through so much already."  
  
"Right. Right." Willow muttered as she pondered on how exactly Dawn had changed. "I should go see them then. Buffy was all very insistent on me seeing them, especially the little baby."  
  
"Baby?" Spike echoed, looking slightly confused.  
  
"Dawn's daughter."  
  
"She's hardly a baby, Red.  She's probably three, four." Spike corrected and Willow looked surprised.  
  
Her lips opened to form an 'o' and she nodded. "Big difference, then." She muttered. "Good to see you, Spike."  
  
"You too, Red." He mumbled as he watched her ascend up the stairs.  
  
Spike smiled to himself, thinking how great it was to see Willow again. It brought memories of time spent in Sunnydale. It seemed a lifetime ago. Spike headed for the kitchen. A mug of hot steaming coffee sounded just about right since he couldn't have blood and vodka anymore.  
  
"Hey, sugarplum!" Lorne bellowed happily when he spotted Spike.  
  
The blonde grimaced at the nickname slightly.  "Hey Lorne."  
  
"Coffee?" The green demon offered since he was making one for himself already.  
  
"Sure. Black."  
  
"So how's everything out there?" Lorne asked as he set the mug in front of Spike.  
  
"It's quiet. Not much going on. No magic or anything catastrophic happening yet. Oh, Red's here. She's upstairs." When Lorne looked slightly baffled, Spike went on to explain. "That's Willow."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"And you?"  
  
Spike looked at him indignantly. "What about me?" He asked.  
  
Lorne narrowed his eyes. "You just became human. It's not an everyday thing for you vampires." He drawled.  
  
"Yes, well, don't worry about me. I'm a big boy. I can take good care of myself. It's the impeding apocalypse we should think about. From what I heard, it's serious."  
  
Lorne nodded as he took a sip of his coffee. "Yeah, I wish I could pack my things and go to Vegas, maybe skip this end of the world thing this year but no can do." He lightly declared, looking somewhat miffed.  
  
"Oh."  
  
"On second thought, maybe it's a better idea if I stay here. Last time I was at the big L.V. I was held captive and forced to read people's aura's so that their destiny could be sold to the black market." He declared, waving his hand in front of himself. "Show business; it's so dangerous these days."  
  
Spike smirked. "Must be tough."  
  
"Yes." Lorne nodded firmly, his expression set in all seriousness. "Well, I have to see little Princess Chayse. I need to see what's going on in her mind. We might need some major info about our impending doom and all."  
  
"I'll join you." Spike said as he rose from his seat. He didn't like the thought of having someone go into Chayse's head, no what the reason was. It seemed wrong and the fact that the little magic child could unleash an all powerful demon wasn't very comforting either.  
  


  
************************************************************************  
  


  
Willow gently rapped her knuckle against the door to Dawn's room. It hadn't taken her a while to find it since it was just a few doors down the hall.  
  
"Come in!" She heard Buffy's voice from the inside. Willow turned the knob and pushed the door open, popping her head through the doorway.  
  
"Hi." She said as she cast a glance at her friend and then a worried one to Dawn who was sitting cross-legged on the bed.  
  
Buffy's expression lit up as she rose and hugged Willow. "You're here."  
  
"Yes, I'm glad." Her gaze shifted to younger Summers girl. "Hey, Dawnie."  
  
She beamed and Dawn gave her a small smile. "Hi, Will." She replied as she walked over to her friend and hugged her. "I missed you."  
  
"You too. I'm glad you're alright." Willow declared as she stroked Dawn's hair. "You are alright, aren't you?"  
  
Dawn nodded. "Besides being twenty in the body of a sixteen year old, sure." She replied.  
  
Willow looked unsure of what to say and thankfully, a knock interrupted the rather tense silence.  
  
Connor, Chayse, Lorne, Spike, along with Fred and Wesley stepped in.  
  
Buffy frowned worriedly as she crossed her arms over her chest. "What's going on?"  
  
"I came to have a little chat with Chaysie." Lorne declared glancing at the little girl who was holding on to Connor's hand. She seemed to have no intention of _ever_ releasing him.  
  
"And we need to speak with Dawn." Wesley declared in his business tone.  
  
"About time." Dawn muttered. She had been expecting them since yesterday when they moved into the Hyperion. She wondered what took them so long to come to her and ask questions.  
  
"I don't think this is such a good idea." Buffy intervened and Dawn sighed.  
  
"It's just a few questions, Buffy. Plus, sooner or later, I'm going to have to explain this whole thing. It has everything to do with the end of the world again, you know." She declared casually and Buffy relented petulantly.  
  
"Momma, what about me?" Chayse asked worriedly as she glanced at Dawn who was ushering Fred and Wesley to go to one of the other rooms to talk. It was getting crowded inside.  
  
Dawn gave her daughter a reassuring smile. "You'll be fine, Chaysie baby. Connor will take good care of you." She said, glancing at the boy who nodded firmly. She said something in a foreign language and the room full of people looked curiously.  
  
Wesley made a mental note to ask Dawn about that later.  
  
"Do you want me to go with you?" Buffy asked her sister who shook her head.  
  
"You and Willow need to catch up." Was all Dawn said before she exited the room with Wesley and Fred in tow.  
  


  
************************************************************************  
  


  
"So what do you want to know?" Dawn asked as she took a seat across from Wesley and Fred. They looked more uncomfortable than she was.  
  
Wesley cleared his throat and Fred shifted uncomfortably. "First, where were you?"  
  
"It was a hell dimension and by that, I don't mean flames and scorching heat." Dawn replied. "Does it help, if I describe it?" She asked unsurely.  
  
Wesley nodded. "Anything you can tell us is incredibly useful." He stated. He and Fred were scribbling notes.  
  
Dawn let out a heavy sigh as she made herself more comfortable in her seat. "It was blue. You couldn't see very clearly. In the day everything was dark blue and in the night it was pitch black. That's why everything is so bright here." She explained. "There was always thunder but it never rained there. Everything was heavier too."  
  
"_Heavier_?" Fred echoed, giving Dawn a curious look.  
  
She nodded. "The atmosphere was thicker. Not like here where everything is light, like you're floating."  
  
"I see." Wesley whispered as he declared as he jotted some noted down. "How long were you there?"  
  
"Four years, give or take a few months. Maybe five years. I don't know for sure." She shrugged. "I was unconscious a lot." Her expression had darkened.  
  
"How so?" Wesley continued, trying not to be too indifferent of Dawn's situation.  
  
She waved her hand as if to dismiss the question and for a few seconds there was a long pause. "Because of these." She said showing them her arms. There were traces of old scars, faint but visible enough. "They wanted my blood."  
  
"Because it could open portals." Wesley murmured and Dawn nodded in agreement.  
  
"It freed them. They wanted out just as much as I did." She said, her voice tense. "They drained me day in and out during the _ritual_."  
  
"Rituals?"  
  
"They said it was my duty. I was the _Deliverer_." She smirked, her frown deepening. "That's how the army was released."  
  
"What is this army like?" Wesley asked.  
  
"Hungry and very powerful. They're like a colony of demon witches. They're great with spells but they needed my blood to open portals. They had the guns but not the bullets." Dawn answered. "When they thought that I was going to die, they took drastic measures."  
  
Wesley looked up, his breath held in suspense.  
  
Sighing, Dawn continued. "They created Chayse."  
  
Fred look shocked beyond belief. "But we thought she was your daughter." She whispered.  
  
"She _is_ my daughter." Dawn conveyed. "I carried her full term."  
  
"But was she created from magic?"  
  
Dawn nodded in dismay. "She was created from my human flesh and blood, by the power of the _key_ and with the help of evil magic."  
  
Wesley sighed. She was giving them so much information but nothing made sense. At least, not perfectly. "She's a replica."  
  
The Key shook her head. "She doesn't look exactly like me and Chayse has powers that I never had as a key. I can open portals but she can't. She, however, can summon demons."  
  
"Like that one that cured you?" Fred pointed out and Dawn gave her a half smile.  
  
"What was her purpose?" Wesley queried.  
  
"In the beginning, Chayse was meant to replace me but the Elders later saw that her blood couldn't open portals. So they changed tactics. Instead, they planned to raise her to rule _beside_ me but _under_ them. With Chayse's ability to summon demons, they wanted her to create an army and I would release them. But I wouldn't let them."  
  
"You escaped?"  
  
"Not at first. When I ran the first time, they caught me. I was too weak." She explained. "The second time, was after Chayse was at least a year old. After she was born, they didn't touch her at all because they didn't know how to raise an infant so I had her but as she got older, they grew impatient. They wanted to hasten the creation of their army."  
  
"Does she know?" Fred whispered.  
  
Dawn hesitated for a moment and then nodded. "She knows. She remembers a lot even when she was too young to remember. She's special and she knows it."  
  
Wesley and Fred could only nod in agreement.  
  


  
************************************************************************  
  


  
"Hi, little princess." Lorne said cheerfully as he greeted Chayse who was sitting on Connor's lap. She was looking at him innocently.  
  
Chayse titled her head. "Everything is lopsided." She exclaimed out loud, drawing everyone's attention. She watched Lorne as if waiting for an explanation.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
Nearby, Buffy and Willow were watching.  
  
"Everything is lopsided. Are you and Mr. Angel going to stop the bad demons from coming?" She asked Spike.  
  
"We'll try." He replied uncomfortably.  
  
"They want me and Momma go to go back with them to the blue place." She declared.  
  
"Blue place?"  
  
"Uh-huh."  
  
Lorne sighed. "Chayse, can you sing for Uncle Lorne?"  
  
Chaysie giggled shyly. "You're funny. Will it help make everything not lopsided?" She asked.  
  
"Maybe."  
  
"Okay, I'll sing." She beamed as she hopped off of Connor's lap and walked to the middle of the room where everyone could get a good view of her. She started to sing or to be specific, chant in a different language.  
  
Willow gasped.  
  
"Oh, no."  
  


  
~*~  
  


  
A/N: THE TONS OF CLUES AND ANSWERS THAT I GAVE WAS TO MAKE UP FOR THE DELAYED UPDATE. USUALLY, I'M BETTER AT UPDATING.  
  
BUT ANYWAY, I FELT BAD ESPECIALLY FOR NICOLE WHO RESORTED TO GROVELLING. LOL. HOPEFULLY THIS CHAPTER HELPED YOU A LITTLE.  
  
TO THE OTHERS WHO REVIEWED, THANK YOU.  
  
THERE ARE CLUES ALL OVER THIS CHAPTER. I DECIDED TO TAKE IT EASY ON YOU GUYS AND GIVE YOU A LITTLE BREAK.  
  
ANYBODY HAVE ANY GUESSES ON WHY CHAYSE SAYS EVERYTHING IS LOPSIDED? HEHEHE.  
  
ANYWAY, CHAYSIE'S MAGIC ISN'T EXACTLY SET IN STONE. THERE WILL BE ADJUSTMENTS TO THEM AS THE CHAPTERS PROGRESS.  
  
OH, DON'T FORGET THAT GILES IS COMING AND HIS EVER FORSHADOW-Y COMMENT OF: "AND BUFFY, I'M BRINGING SOMEONE."  
  
P.S. YOU'RE RIGHT ABOUT ONE THING BUT I WON'T DIVULGE THAT INFO TO ANYONE.  
  
KEEP GUESSING. HEHEHE.  
  
THANKS FOR READING PEEPS.  
  
DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW.


	11. In The Company of Allies

A/N:  IT'S BEEN AGES SINCE I UPDATED THIS THING.  I THOUGHT NOW WOULD BE AS GOOD A TIME AS ANY.

ENJOY.

~*~

They all sat in the Hyperion's dinning area, using it as a conference table for the meantime.  Angel sat at the head of the table, looking professional and grimly serious.  On his left was Lilah, who for some reason unknown to the others had followed him there.  On his right was Wesley, the enormous and thick book in front of him.  Fred occupied the next space, a folder-full of paperwork with her.  Willow was there too, with a weary Buffy beside her, next to Lorne.  Spike and Connor stood by the nearest wall.

Dawn and Chayse were upstairs, resting.

"What do we know?"  Angel asked as he leaned forward and folded his hands on the table.  "Wes, why don't you begin?"

The British nodded.  "Let's begin with what Dawn said.  Chayse is a duplicate of _what_ Dawn is.  She is part Key, part slayer-"  

"Slayer?"  Spike echoed, looking incredulous.

"Let him finish, Spike."  Angel quickly reprimanded him.  The blonde vampire shot him a glare.

"Chayse is part Key, part slayer and something else.  What that something else is, we don't know exactly.  She is part Key because she is Dawn's daughter and part slayer because Dawn was created from the essence of Buffy."

"This means that there's a _possibility_ that Chayse inherited Buffy's slayer abilities _through_ Dawn."  Fred added with a knowing smile.  "Dawn did say that the slayer line skipped her."

Buffy creased her forehead into a frown.  "Does this mean that Chayse could be _called_ when she's old enough?"

"Maybe, maybe not.  It's like inheriting genetic traits from your ancestors.  The further down the line you are, the less evident it is.  The trait becomes diluted along the way."  Wesley explained softly.  "And in Chayse' case, it's not certain yet.  There's an unknown element."         

"Chayse might be part demon.  Like Dawn told us, Chayse also has the ability to summon demons, heal, which we've all witnessed earlier and she might be clairvoyant."

"A seer?"  Angel whispered.  "That makes no sense."

"But it is _possible_."  Wesley pressed.

"She's showing more of her slayer traits than any other.  Dawn mentioned something about being able to tell humans apart from demons through sense of smell."  Angel pointed out.

Spike arched an eyebrow.  "You poof, that's not a slayer trait.  That's a vampire trait."  He interjected.  "_We_ can smell blood.  _Human blood_."  

"You're a vampire?"  Connor asked, shocked.  He had seen Spike standing in broad daylight.  _How was that possible?_

"Former vampire.  I retired."  The replied with a nonchalant shrug.  Connor nodded.  His life was getting interesting by the moment.  

"Well, she can't possibly be part vampire."  Buffy argued.  "Sunlight does nothing to her."

Willow nodded.  "Buffy's right.  And we all know that vampires can only be sired, not born so that theory is out of the question."  Angel looked uncomfortable.  Lilah smirked.  _You sure about that, witch?_   "I know she's carrying a lot of magic.  Chayse is made of old magic and new."

"How do you know this?"  Connor asked, intrigued.

The Wicca looked at him, wondering if it was wise to discuss all this information around a _civilian_ they didn't even know.  But no one seemed to mind or voice any concerns so she went on.  "I was evil once.  And I can still _feel_ it, sense when dark magic and great power are near."

"Oh."

"I got it!"  Lorne, who had been uncharacteristically silent for quite a while now, suddenly exclaimed, startling everyone in the room.  The others eyed him curiously.  

"You got what, Lorne?"  

"Chayse is a _reflection_ or at least right now, with everything that we know, that's the closest description of what she is."

"And what's a reflection exactly?"  Spike asked.

"Pretend there's a pond and there's two sides to that pond.  On each side there's a person or _creature_ looking down at the exact same spot.  When their reflections merge, you get one picture.  Chayse is _the_ picture."  Lorne beamed, proud with his discovery.     

"Good, Lorne.  This is good.  The more we know the better."  Angel cleared his throat.  "What about the prophecy, Wes?  Anything new?"

"Fred, why don't you take this?"  He suggested to the petite woman who smiled gratefully and nodded.

She opened her folder.  "Wes and I managed to decipher another passage.  _The deliverer will be called forth to open the barriers that divide.  A great being shall be forged from the blood and soul.  Of two, not one.  But none the same._"  Fred read.  "Unfortunately that's all we have.  The rest of the page was torn off."

"The _deliver_ the prophecy speaks of is Dawn opening the portals to other dimensions."

"You're sure of this?"  Buffy asked.

 Wesley and Fred nodded simultaneously.  "_Deliverer_ is another name of the Key.  Wherever, Dawn was, they recognized her as the _deliverer_."

"Hasn't that part of the prophecy happened already?"  Spike asked.

"Yes and no."  Fred replied.  "The tempest was the storm so Dawn _has _alreadyopened a portal.  And if we're going to be technical it's the second one she opened.  One was what led her to where she was and the other was what got her back here."

"Fred, you might want to stick with the cliff notes.  You're losing us here."  Spike drawled.

The brunette offered everyone an apologetic smile.  "What I meant is that this second verse we deciphered is backwards.  Dawn opened her portals and Chayse was created-_the great being_.  But since this passage was placed _after _the tempest verse, it must mean that the portal opening is still going to happen.  And soon."

Buffy sighed sharply.  "But we know this already."  She insisted.  "Dawn told me she let lose an army of demons by opening the portal."

"No," Wesley disputed firmly.  "What the passage means is that Dawn will open the portal from this side and she _will_ let the demons into this dimension _on_ _purpose_."

The blonde glared at the former watcher.  "You're twisting the words here, Wesley."

"I'm sorry, Buffy.  It's what it says."

"Dawn would not intentionally put us in danger.  Those monsters tortured her!" She argued irately.

Willow placed a hand on her friend's shoulder.  "We know Dawn won't deliberately hurt us, Buff."

"Alright, we'll deal with that when the time comes."  Angel declared stoically.  "Lorne, did you get anything from Chayse?"

The _Host_ shifted in his chair.  "There's a war a-brewing, Angelcakes.  It's messy, messier than any war we've seen.  It's not like our yearly apocalypses though."

"What exactly did Chayse show you, Lorne?"  Angel asked.  

"Not enough but a lot.  This war that's coming, it's not meant to destroy us.  It's an invasion. _ A_ _take-over_."  He clarified.  "But they will kill those who resist them, who fight back and those who have no purpose."

"Power hungry demons.  Just what we need."  Buffy muttered wryly.

Willow looked optimistic despite the dire topic.  "This should be easy then.  All we have to do is make sure those portals stay closed."

"_And_ that Dawn won't do anything to open them in the first place."  Wesley pointed out quickly and he was met with a glare from Buffy.

****************************************************************

"Do you think we'll win?"  Connor asked Spike when everyone left to go home for the rest night.  Most of them had decided to go back to their own apartments.

Spike arched an eyebrow at the teenager.  "_We_?"  He drawled.  "There is no _we_ here, Connor.  You should go home before bad turns to worse.  You don't want to be part of this."

"I can't.  I've seen too much already.  I know too much to just walk away from all of this."  He insisted, shoving his hands into his pockets.  "I want to help."

Spike scoffed.  "You either have a _hero complex_ or you're suicidal like I suspected you were."  He declared bluntly.  "Don't be stupid and get yourself killed.  Walk away."

"I can fight."  Connor declared doggedly.

"I'm sure you can.  You're probably on the school's wrestling team too.  But it doesn't mean you can fight demons, kid.  You're human."

"So are you."  The teenager argued.

Spike sighed sharply.  "I was a _vampire_.  I've had centuries of experience and the powers-"

"_Powers_?"

"Mystical beings that control the universe…well, they brought me _for a reason_.  And I'm betting that this is the reason.  Even got myself a prophecy to prove it."  The blonde declared with a cocky smirk.  

Connor sighed.  "I know I might be killed by trying to be part of something big I feel like I have to be here.  I wouldn't have been where you and Chayse and Dawn were if I wasn't meant to be part of this.  You think maybe the powers got something in store for me too?"  He asked, almost hopefully.

Spike shrugged.  "Unlikely but you never know."

Connor nodded.  "Can I stay here then?"

"Well, you don't look like you're going anywhere anyway.  Pick a room, just _far_ from Dawn.  No fraternizing on my watch."

"I wasn't going to try anything."  Connor declared defensively.

Spike scoffed.  "Getting on her kid's good graces to get to her.  Oldest trick in the book, kid.  There's no fooling me."

Connor rolled his eyes but smiled anyway.  "Good night, Spike."

"You too, Connor."

****************************************************************

"Momma, I don't think they like us."  Chayse whispered, her voice tiny, as she snuggled closer to Dawn in their bed- their first real bed in years.  They were lying in their room, not quite able to sleep despite their fatigue.  It was dark and silent and they could hear the voices of everyone all the way downstairs.

Dawn shifted, wrapping her arms around her daughter.  "They're just talking, baby."  She reassured the little girl.  

"They think we're bad.  They might hurt us.  Hurt us more than the elders.  Momma-"

"Shh."  Dawn planted a kiss on top of her hair.  "They won't hurt us, Chayse.  They _can't_."  

"Will everyone stop being lopsided soon?"  Chayse asked.  "Will they?"

Dawn had no idea what she meant.  "I don't know, baby.  I don't know."

"We can make it stop.  I know how."  She said, sounding awfully enthusiastic.  "But they'll be angry.  _Very_ angry."  Her voice dropped as quickly as it rose.

"Then maybe we shouldn't make them stop being lopsided."  Dawn suggested, still unaware of what it truly meant.  Sometimes, Chayse just said things that didn't make sense, even to her.   

"Okay."  But when the Daddy asks, Chayse knew she was going to make the lopsidedness go away.  Even if the others will get angry.  And soon the Daddy will ask.

_What's a daddy?  _She wondered.

****************************************************************

"Hello?"  Giles' weary voice echoed into the lobby off the Hyperion.  The figure beside him was silent.  "Hello?"  He called again.  The hotel seemed rather eerily empty.

_Where is everyone? _He wondered.

"Anybody here?"  His companion yelled loudly and Giles winced, shooting the other person an irritated scowl.  

"No need to yell!"  Lorne hastily replied as he stepped into the room, looking awfully peeved by the disturbance.  "We're not deaf. Yet."

Giles cleared his throat.  "I'm Rupert Giles.  We're looking for Buffy."  He said, eyeing the green demon curiously. 

"Oh, Buffy said to expect you."  The _Host _said, offering the walking over to Giles and his companion.  Lorne shook hands with the other man.  "Welcome to L.A.  I'm Lorne.  I'll go get Buffy."  He then exited the room before Giles could say another word.

He reappeared moments later with Buffy, Willow, Spike and Angel in tow.

_Looks like the gang's all here.  _Giles inwardly declared, feeling somewhat nostalgic.

"Giles."  Buffy said, offering her former watcher a hug.

"Good to see you, Buffy."  The ex-slayer was meaningfully looking at his companion.  "Oh, everyone, this is Vaughn Brooks.  She's a slayer."  

The blonde teenager smiled, her gaze falling on each and every one of them.  Who she was looking for was not there.

"Hi."  Vaughn beamed.        

~*~

A/N:  VAUGHN _ACTUALLY _HAS A PURPOSE TO THIS STORY.  SO SHES NOT JUST SOME OC I PUT THERE FOR NO REASON.  ANYWAY, PLEASE REVIEW.  

          


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